


The Sun'll Come Out

by dorkpatroller



Category: Fire Emblem: If | Fire Emblem: Fates, Fire Emblem: Kakusei | Fire Emblem: Awakening
Genre: A little angst, Alternate Universe - Annie, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Domestic Fluff, F/F, Family Feels, Fluff, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Light Angst, M/M, This is a happy story, Trans Male Character, You heard me this is an Annie Au, adorable parent-child bonding, feel good family movie tbh, happy ending i swear
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-22
Updated: 2018-05-21
Packaged: 2019-04-16 12:11:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 47,392
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14164584
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dorkpatroller/pseuds/dorkpatroller
Summary: Nina has been passed through foster homes and care for most of her life, but she's not an orphan. She has parents, and she can prove it. She's going to find them! But then some rich guy named Leo decides to take her in over the holidays, and the people that work for him turn out to be pretty cool. Maybe they can help her track down her missing family?





	1. Won't You Please Come Get Your Baby, Maybe?

**Author's Note:**

> So anyway I was listening to the song "Maybe" from the Annie soundtrack in my car one day and I literally broke down and cried thinking about Nina. So then I had a brain blast and came up with this entire self-indulgent AU. I hope you guys like it--it diverges from the plot of the musical enough that I think it will keep you on your toes.

Niles coughs again but this time it sounds more like a wet bark than a cough. Odin chews hard on his lower lip, but he keeps pointing to the page and guiding Nina through the steps of writing out her name. They’re all three tucked into the one thin sleeping bag. Thrown out on the dusty, frozen floor of the house they’re taking up shelter in, it’s simply not warm enough. Nina has layers of clothes on, but she still shivers now and then. She’s tucked in the middle, between Niles and Odin, with a spiral notebook in her lap and a mechanical pencil gripped in her left hand.

This book is their whole life, and Odin’s whole world. Nina learns to write in it, and she draws pictures. She makes up tall tales and stories with Odin, and he writes them down in there to read to her later. It’s where he keeps track of birthdays, events. It’s like a diary he shares with his daughter, and together they call it the Manual of Justice.

The candle they’re burning is getting low, though, and he knows that their idle chatter is keeping Niles awake. He needs his sleep, now more than ever. He’s just very sick. Odin has never worried over Niles quite as much as he does now, when every breath in and out is like he’s wheezing and his face feels hot with fever all the time. He needs a doctor, to be in the hospital, but how are they meant to pay for that?

They can’t even put a real roof over their own baby’s head. “Let’s put away your drawings, baby, it’s time for bed.” Odin says. He thinks of his mother. She used to tell him the same thing, talk to him in the same affectionate voice… and his daughter reacts similarly to the way he always did.  
  
“But _dad_ , I don’t wanna!” She whines. She closes the book like a good little girl, though, and Odin takes it from her. She settles in like that, tucked close to Niles under the sleeping bag… and he drapes his arm around her. Protectively, as he always is. She’s their little ray of sunshine, after all, in a dark, grim world. A world where they’re not sure where their next meal will come from, let alone what the future holds.

Odin takes a final glances around the room. The doors are all bolted, but this isn’t their house. It’s abandoned and likely condemned, but Niles found a way in through the cellar. They’ve been hiding out here to keep away the winter chill. He leans forward and blows out the candle, and they’re blanketed in darkness.

He blinks his eyes while he settles on his side. He lays his arm over Nina as well, and he slips his fingers through Niles’s. Very softly he hums for her. A lullaby they’ve sang and hummed to her a million times in her life, a song woven out of hope for a brighter, better tomorrow.

Before Odin knows it, Nina is asleep between them. Her breathing is even and calm, and thank goodness she shows no signs of whatever it is Niles is sick with. He wishes he was able to sleep as easily as she can that night, but he’s consumed with worry. He squeezes Niles’s hand. “You’re not getting any better,” He says quietly. “You need a doctor.”

Niles makes a noise caught between clearing his throat and a hum. “Jus’ the flu.” He mumbles. Odin rolls in his lips and chooses not to remind his lover that the flu can and will kill him if it’s bad enough. His mother was a nurse, and she preached endlessly on the power of the flu. “It’s getting colder.”

Odin closes his eyes. It doesn’t make much difference if they’re open or shut, in terms of darkness… but he hums a quiet agreement. It’s getting colder. It’s getting harder to find food to keep Nina’s belly full, and harder to keep her warm when they can’t even afford to buy her a coat. With Niles so sick, they can’t even risk stealing her one.

He knows, deep down, what they’re going to talk about. They’ve talked about it  before, but they’ve pushed it aside. They’ve procrastinated. They’ve ignored the obvious need, selfishly. “She needs… to be someplace safe,” Odin’s voice cracks as he says it. Shaky and nervous--he doesn’t want to give up his baby girl.

Odin can feel Niles’s hand flex beneath his own. His fingers squeeze tight. “Someplace warm, where she won’t have to go hungry.” He’s agreeing with Odin. They’re both agreeing that she has to go someplace without _them_. But being without them… Odin can think of nothing worse.

“Niles,” He whispers. “I don’t…” Odin’s voice trails off when Nina yawns. It turns into something more like a coo and she rolls over to face Odin. Her eyes don’t open, her breathing stays even, and Odin curls his arm up around her tight. He doesn’t _want to_. He wants to keep her with him. Surely the safest place for his own daughter is here, wrapped up in his arms. But he knows it isn’t. He knows, and gods does it hurt, that he can’t keep her with them.

He lays his cheek against the top of her head and takes in a deep breath. He just wants this moment to last. This moment where she’s there in his arms, where she’s his baby and where she cuddles up with him. He breathes in her scent and her dreams and he hiccups when he holds in a sob. “Niles, I,” He bites his lip hard. He doesn’t want to. He doesn’t want to let her go.

Niles scoots closer. Shifts his arms to wrap around Odin as well, but his grip is weak. He’s got no energy, he’s so sick. Odin, underneath it all, just prays that he’s healthy soon. He can’t imagine losing the man he loves and giving up their baby girl both. He’d be left with no one. “Not for long,” He whispers to Niles. “As soon as you’re healthy we’ll both double our efforts to find work and make ends meet. I don’t want her to spend her whole life with strangers.”

Niles nods his head, but he settles with his lips against Nina’s head and a kiss in her hair. “She’s _our_ baby, Odin. It will only be for a few months, just to keep her warm and fed through the winter.”

 

・。・゜★・。・。☆・゜・。・゜。・。・゜★・。・。☆・。・゜★・。・。☆・゜・。・゜。・。・゜★・。・。☆

 

_Please take care of our baby girl. Her name is Nina._

_She loves to tell stories and draw and write. We love her so much._

_We will be back for her as soon as we can. Within the year, if the gods_

_are looking out for us. She bears a birthmark on her arm. That mark is_

_passed down in our family. When we come back for her, the mark on_

_my arm will be proof of her lineage!_

_Please, please keep her safe._  


・。・゜★・。・。☆・゜・。・゜。・。・゜★・。・。☆・。・゜★・。・。☆・゜・。・゜。・。・゜★・。・。☆

 

“It’s kind of definitely crazy,” Soleil begins. Nina turns her head to look at her while they walk. She’s got her hands up in the air and her pink hair pulled up in a ponytail on her head. She’s got a braid on one side of her bangs too--it’s cute. Nina doesn’t say so, though, because it would probably be more trouble than it’s worth to compliment Soleil. “Maybe destiny, even.”

It’s chilly, that’s what it is. Chilly enough that Nina is shivering and Soleil is acting fine. It’s the beginning of December and they’re walking home from their last class of the semester. Early, because of what Soleil is blabbering about. The streets of Windmire are made of cobblestone and the lamps are already on because the sky is gloomy (as always). This is home, though. Well, as close to home as it can be. Nina tucks her hands under her arms and tries not to grumble when it begins to snow. “I still say it was Rhajat.”

Soleil snorts out a laugh. Nina smirks too, but she’s not really joking. “Do you think she could really curse a whole _school?_ ”

Nina thinks Rhajat could curse anyone. She’s sixteen and _grumpy_ all the time, and who can blame her? She’s got nothing. She’s good looking and smart but she’s missing a vital piece of her framework, missing that one thing that could make her whole.

It’s the one thing Nina is missing, too. What all of the girls in that foster home are missing: family. “How else do you explain the water pipes under the building breaking?” All of the water pipes. Well, not all of them, but more than one. Several of them broke the same day, and it caused an emergency evacuation of the classrooms at their high school. All the water had to be shut off, and the repairs are estimated to take the entire month… so they extended winter break.

“I’m just not so excited for making up an extra three weeks at the end of the school year,” Nina is trying to sound grumpy for exactly a quarter of a second, before she squeaks and warmth envelops her. Soleil has her arms wrapped snug around her shoulders, but more importantly she’s dropped her heavy coat--still warm with her body heat--onto Nina. “Oh.”

Soleil is her best friend ever. Nina has been bounced around from home to home to home in the foster care system for her whole life. She’s been lucky to stay in the same city and school district for most of it.

They first met in elementary school on the playground. Soleil approached her and started asking what she was reading, and when Nina finally caved and said it was a fairytale about a princess and a knight, Soleil insisted on dragging her to her feet to play knights with her. After that they were close for two years, and when Nina was bounced out of the school district they kept in touch as pen pals.

Now they’re back at the same school again, enjoying a wild start to their freshman year. Soleil grew up to be tall and muscular; she plays softball and does track and complains more about the heat than anyone Nina knows. Seriously--she has a problem. Nina is certain of it. But… She’s pretty cool.

Even though most people think Nina is crazy, Soleil is always willing to go out on a limb with her and attempt the impossible. She even comes up with some of the schemes! She’s always done her best to look out for Nina, even when she can’t do much more than smile and promise things will get better.

Nina shoves her arms off of her and sticks out her tongue. “Don’t be gross.”

“Whatever, babe.” Soleli says. She slips her hands into her back pockets while they walk. She’s just wearing a thin sweater now, but Nina doesn’t argue about her coat. She’s never even had a nice coat, if Soleil doesn’t want to wear it Nina will. “It won’t be so bad making up the extra days. More time spent with you!”  

Nina doesn’t always get why Soleil hangs out with her. Sure they’ve been friends forever, but she’s not exactly the best friend to have. She never gets her gifts or does anything exciting for her and she can’t come spend time at Soleil’s house for sleepovers or anything like that. Not to mention most people really do think she’s weird and mean. But… never look a gift horse in the mouth or whatever. Nina tucks her bangs behind her ear and sighs. Then sighs again when a puff of steam materializes in front of her.

“Don’t tell Rhajat I said she cursed anyone. I know she’s mean but she’s not _actually_ mean.” She says. Not that she thinks Soleil would tattle on her to anyone. “She’s just kind of like me. She doesn’t always know the right thing to say.”

“She doesn’t know it more often than you,” Soleil mutters, but she flashes Nina a smile and nods her head. “I won’t say a word!” After that they round the corner and Soleil gets a running start and jumps to catch the ladder of the fire escape in front of Nina’s building. It’s pretty high up there and a little rusty. The whole building is a little rusty. It’s… well it’s practically condemned, actually. An awful place with drafts and leaks in the roof and mice now and then. At least there aren’t roaches. Soleil manages to get it in one try, and it comes down with a loud clang and a shrill screech. She takes a quick bow and presents the ladder to Nina. “Ladies first.”

“Does your dad know you’re here?” Nina asks. Soleil’s father works for the government. Somehow. Sort of. Maybe? Nina isn’t even totally sure. Maybe he just works for someone who works for the government. He’s super nice though. Nina has met Laslow several times. He’s taken her out for ice cream once or twice, and once a year, for Soleil’s birthday, he takes Nina with them for a spa day. (It’s really expensive, and Nina feels bad about it, really, but who is she to turn down a mud bath and a massage? It’s the only time in her life where she’s pampered.)

Nina has _not_ met Soleil’s stepfather, though. She knows that he got married last year, she was invited. She wanted to go, and she tried, but Aversa wouldn’t let her. She knows that the guy he married is the mayor of Windmire… but she doesn’t know shit about him. Soleil is still getting to know him too, but all she’s really said about him is that he’s nice, but kind of strict. Nina is pretty sure that even if he’s strict he must be a really nice guy, because Laslow is such a doting happy dad that he clearly wouldn’t marry anyone who wouldn’t be just as nice as he is to his daughter.

But he _is_ strict, and he does have a reputation to maintain as the mayor, and that’s  why Nina finds herself asking if Soleil actually got permission to be at this dump. Soleil probably lives somewhere nice, but _Nina?_ Nina lives in this run down, beat up apartment in the _bad_ part of town. The part of town where it doesn’t really matter who the mayor is or the police are or even if God is real because no one is going to help you. The part of town the Mayor’s step-daughter probably shouldn’t be hanging out in.

But this part of town isn’t so bad, not to Nina. She’s been here for a long while, different addresses but the same place. The people here help each other out best they can, when they can, but there are just some people that aren’t nice. Among the not-nice is _Miss Aversa_. All she ever does is go out of her way to make Nina’s life a living hell. She makes all of their lives hell. Nina starts up the ladder, careful to skip over the broken rung, and then hoists herself into the window.

“He thinks I’m at the library!” Soleil calls up. “Uh--he doesn’t like it when I go running off alone in this part of town. So I just don’t tell him--I don’t want his cute face to get a wrinkle worrying about me!”

She climbs up the ladder too, and soon they’re both in Nina’s bedroom. And Rhajat’s. And Mitama’s. And Ophelia’s. It’s just one bedroom and it’s nowhere near big enough for four girls to share.

The room is more appropriately sized for a closet, actually. Against one wall there’s a bunk bed. The bottom bunk has some sheets draped off of it to make it almost look canopied. There are some charms that probably ward off evil or something that Rhajat hung there, and a string of dark purple Christmas lights. She sleeps on that lower bunk.

The top bunk has posters taped to the ceiling over it. They’re just some local bands, no one famous. There’s also a collage of poems and quotes that have been pinned and taped and strapped to the wall any way they’ll fit. Mitama is 14, just like Nina, and she loves poetry. Nina just wonders if she prints out those quotes at libraries or if she rips them right out of books.

That bed takes up nearly a whole wall. At the corner it meets with the one other bed. It’s just a twin size, and not a bunk bed, but Ophelia shares it with Nina. The only reason they both fit is because Ophelia is still so young; she’s only six. Their bed has some glow in the dark stars tacked to the ceiling and the wall beside it, and a window that looks out over the alley. It’s not exactly a dream view, and sometimes they can hear people fighting back there. Thankfully they’re a few floors up, so it’s not so bad.

There’s a dresser with four drawers; they can each fit all of their belongings in one, and into the backpacks they carry with them. They don’t exactly have a lot. Most of their special belongings are hidden. Things they cherish and care about they keep where Aversa won’t find it. Nina, for example, has a floorboard under her bed that comes loose. She and Ophelia hide away trinkets they find there, and a flimsy first grade workbook that Nina stole from the library.

She had to! Aversa didn’t enroll Ophelia in school yet. She says it’s because she’s not big enough, but that’s stupid. It’s one of the reasons why Nina knows that it doesn’t matter who is looking out for you, they won’t care if you’re just some foster kid. Isn’t the government supposed to make sure Ophelia is clothed and fed and enrolled in school? Isn’t it the law or something? But here she is, not in school and not properly clothed and fed.

So Nina stole the workbook from the library, and she teaches her herself. It’s not hard. Ophelia learns fast and is eager to know more. She wants to learn to read and write the most, because she loves the stories that Nina makes up and the poetry that Mitama recites, and she wants to write her own someday too.

Ophelia is there when they arrive, sitting on the bed and using a pencil to draw something, but she sits up straighter when she sees them. “Nina! You’re home!” She stands up and runs across the cold floor in her bare feet. Nina worries about her doing that; the wood isn’t finished very well. She’ll get a splinter… but she’s just a kid and she probably won’t learn that lesson until it happens.  
  
Before Ophelia can hug Nina, Soleil intercepts her and just like that she scoops Ophelia into the air. She spins her around until she squeals with delighted laughter. “Keep it down!” Nina hushes them. “If Aversa hears you she’ll probably kick you out.”

Ophelia tries quiets down, but a few stray giggles still bubble up. Her trying to quiet herself isn’t because Nina scolded her, though. She quiets down because they can all hear footsteps coming down the hall. The door opens and for a moment Nina thinks she ruined it. Soleil will have to go home, Ophelia will be scolded for making too much noise, and Nina will have to get between her and their stupid ‘guardian’ so that she gets distracted and yells at her instead. Instead of Aversa’s gangly form in the door though it’s just Mitama and Rhajat.

“Oh, Soleil,” Mitama yawns and covers her mouth with her hand. She’s not even done yawning when she goes on to say “Are you here to formulate the plan?” Mitama has a creamy complexion and pink hair, but it’s not the same pink as Soleil’s. They don’t look alike at all really. They don’t act alike either, but they get along well enough at school. Rhajat on the other hand looks exactly like you would think a goth girl who could put a spell on you looks. Her hair is long and black and she wears dark eyeliner and darker clothes.

“Excuse me,” Rhajat groans. “Plan? Again? This better not be about what I think it is.” She flops onto her back on her bed and picks at her cuticles. Mitama climbs up onto the top bunk but she’s sorting through her backpack. Probably sorting through what she wants to keep or throw away from the last of her school work for the semester.

Nina scoffs. “This time it’s foolproof.” Probably! It’s mostly foolproof anyway. She thinks it’s foolproof, so it’s got to be close to it. But...

Well, the last time she came up with a plan to find her parents she didn’t know how complex it would be. She can’t even get a copy of her legal records unless she has ID, money, and forms signed by her guardian. She doesn’t have any of those things, so getting a copy of her birth certificate is pretty much off the table. She hoped if she at least knew the names of her parents, she could easily track down where they went. Right? Everyone has facebook or something nowadays. But that wasn’t meant to be. At least not that time.

 _This_ time Soleil is a hero. She said that her dad off-handedly mentioned they were hosting some kind of ancestry event at the police department. Nina is pretty sure when Laslow mentioned it he meant something like _Hey darling, why don’t you write your paper on your geneology and learn more about yourself while you do it?_ But Soleil just thought of Nina. Which, in this instance, rocks.  “If they do a DNA test that’s _definitely_ going to help me track them down.” Nina says.

“If you can find the money,” Mitama chirps as a soft reminder. Nina’s face falls just a little, but she’s sure they can do it.

“Yeah, but I think it’s next weekend,” Soleil argues gently. By now Soleil is sitting on the bed with Ophelia, and whatever she was drawing before has turned into a riveting game of tic tac toe. One so intense that Ophelia has her little tongue caught between her lips while she ponders her next move. “So we have plenty of time to find the money for it! It can’t be that much.”

“Thirty-Five dollars. I heard someone talking about it at school. They’re not _out_ there, Nina,” Rhajat groans. “How many times do we have to go over this; your stupid letter said one year. That was, what, ten years ago?”

Nina’s blood boils. Sure the letter said her parents would be back for her within a year, but how could they? In that first year she was bounced between several different foster homes and orphanages, and she didn’t even _have_ a Social Security number until they assigned her one. Since then she’s had to have been in at least twenty, and not even all of them in Windmire. Her parents didn’t stand a fair chance! They have no way of tracking her down. They lost her, but they’re still looking. They’ve got to be.

“My parents are out there, and if they can’t find me then I’ll find them.” Nina snaps back. Rhajat groans again and falls back into her bed.

“You’re an orphan just like the rest of us. They’re not coming back for you. You’re fourteen. No one wants a _teenager_.”

“That’s not true!” Soleil says. Nina nods her head.

She thinks that all of the girls in this room deserve a happy family and home. Even when Rhajat is pissing her off. Nina is about to say as much, but she’s also considering climbing onto that bottom bunk and straight up strangling her. Before she can do _anything_ Ophelia chirps up. “Can you read me the letter again?”

That makes Nina’s heart soften. Yes. She can read Ophelia the letter her parents left her a hundred times. She reads it every day, to herself. She has every curve of the handwriting memorized. She turns around to go sit with Soleil and Ophelia on the bed when Mitama asks “If you do find them, what do you think they’ll be like?”

She’s tapping an ink pen against her lower lip. Nina has barely had a chance to sit down before Ophelia crawls into her lap. Soleil hands her a brush and Nina begins working through the tangles in Ophelia’s hair. “I don’t know. I barely remember anything about them,” She admits. “I just know they’re out there.”

“I bet,” Soleil interjects, “That they’re young. Not super young, like you-were-a-mistake young, but also not old or anything. Like my dad’s age. Young enough to be cool. And super cute--any parents of yours have got to be adorable because they made you! And you’re--well, adorable.”

Nina rolls her eyes. “Smooth,” She says, but her cheeks still flush with the compliment. Soleil is… well Soleil is really upping her game flirting with Nina lately. Enough to make her wonder if it’s pushing beyond ‘best friends’ and into something else. She just doesn’t have the confidence to confront it yet, so she ignores it instead.

“Oh! You’re right.” Mitama slips off of her bunk and walks closer to Nina’s bed, hanging romantically off of the bedpost. Ultimately she joins them on it, with her pen tucked behind her ear and a big, sleepy smile. “They must be brilliant, too. They taught you how to read and write when you were only three or four! Smarter yet, they didn’t overlook the importance of passing such a vital skill down to you.”

Yeah. Nina could read and write young, and it’s because they taught her. She sort of remembers being tucked between the warm bodies of her parents, writing and scribbling by candlelight. Or maybe that’s just a dream she’s had so many times it feels like a memory?

“Maybe,” Ophelia says, “They have a big, pretty house. In the part of town where all the trees and parks are, and there’s a flowerbed and it’s all hidden by a hill!” She flashes a smile at Soleil who in turn reflects it back to Nina.

“Yeah!” Soleil says, “Like a cottage! With a trellis and rose vines growing up the side of it. That’s super romantic, right? There’s probably a cute little duck pond or something off to the side of it. With cobblestone or something.”

“That sounds a little _too_ dreamy, Soleil. This is real life, not a fantasy.” Nina laughs, but she thinks that sounds like a dream home. Maybe there are pretty windows and little nooks to read and write in? Or maybe they barely scrape by to make ends meet. Maybe they’ve got a really cheap apartment in the bad part of town, just like this? It wouldn’t matter, as long as she was with her parents. Nina doesn’t care how rich or poor they are.

“Maybe they collect artwork, or colored glass, or poetry books,” Mitama suggests. “Maybe when you meet them they’ll have a whole library of incredible things for you to read.” 

“What’s collecting?” Ophelia asks. Nina squeezes her in an aggressive, but loving, hug around her middle.  
  
“It’s when you have a lot of something. Like Mitama collects poems on her wall,” she tries to explain. “I think they could collect stuff. Why not?”

“If you’re daydreaming anyway, you may as well just assume they’re the nicest people in the world, and that they can do no wrong.” Rhajat’s input is a little bitter. Nina knows she doesn’t want to be bitter, though. Probably. If she was _actually_ bitter she would probably just curse Nina and be done with it. Or tell Aversa about her plan. That would be worse. “None of it matters since they’re, you know, imaginary.”

“They can make mistakes! No one is perfect, and I don’t expect them to be either,” Nina scoffs. Then she lays her cheek on top of Ophelia’s head. “Like giving up me. That was their biggest mistake ever. But I _know_ they did it to protect me. They’re good people.”

They’ve got to be good people. They’re good, happy people, and they just want their baby back. Just like Nina just wants to find her parents. “I bet they’re sitting pretty now. In their romantic cottage where they read fancy books. Maybe they play piano, even. They’re just trying to track me down, and as soon as they do they’ll come back for me.” Nina thinks she sees Rhajat smile.

Mitama yawns again. This time when she does she looks out the window. Nina’s eyes follow hers. It’s starting to get late. “Soleil,” She mutters, “Take your coat back and get out of here. It’s time for bed.”

Mitama climbs back up onto her top bunk and settles in under a pile of too-thin blankets. Soleil stands up and pulls the sheets back so that when Nina scoops up Ophelia in her arms she can lay her down on the pillow gently. Then Soleil lays the blankets back down over her and flashes Nina a smile. “See you as soon as I know when the date for that thing is. Later babe.”

“Don’t call me that.” Nina rolls her eyes and shrugs the jacket off of her shoulders. Just as soon as Soleil puts it on she makes to crawl out that window, and Nina watches her leave to make sure she remembers to shove the fire escape ladder back up. After that she closes and latches the window.

A quick glance at the sky and it’s too cloudy to see stars, but maybe one of the plastic stars glued to their ceiling would relay a wish for her. She just wants so badly, more than anything, for this to be the last time she has to pray for her parents to come back. She just wants to meet them. She just hopes that Soleil’s new plan works.

“Nina?” Ophelia asks in a tiny voice. Nina flicks the light off and wanders back to the bed. She slips into it and lays on the pillow beside Ophelia.

“Yeah?”

“You know that song you sing all the time? The one your parents used to sing to you. Will you hum for me?” Ophelia asks. She looks so droopy that Nina can’t imagine she’ll stay awake for it. “The one about the sun.”

Nina nods her head. She cuddles closer to Ophelia to combat the cold, she closes her eyes, and she hums a song about hope for a brighter, better tomorrow.


	2. It's The Hard-Knock Life, For Us

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Operation: Find Nina's Parents is taking effect, but there are a couple of hiccups along the way.

_ “Papa,” Nina asks in a hush. Her father is using a pocket knife to peel an apple for her. She’s settled in his lap, and when he hands her a slice she eats it. With a mouth full of mush she continues. “Why don’t we have a house?”  _

_ She can’t see him. She can hear his voice but it’s soft, it’s quiet, and she doesn’t know if that’s really the way it sounds. She can’t remember what it sounds like. She can’t remember what he looks like, not really. The only thing she can recall is his hands, skin dark like hers, gently coaxing her to take another slice of the apple.She can’t remember his voice, but he still speaks up. “Sometimes bad things happen to good people,” He answers. “But a hard life isn’t a ruined life. We’re going to have a home one day soon. When we do, what do you want your room to have in it?”  _

_ “A big bed. Big enough for all three of us, and lots of pillows, and a canopy like a princess! And… a window. With a seat in it so I can see outside.” _

_ “You don’t want to have your own room, baby? A bed all to yourself?” Nina can feel him shift to kiss the top of her head as she shakes it slowly from side to side, and she thinks he’s going to say something else to her. Something wonderful, no doubt, as these are the words of her loving father. He chuckles near her ear. “You can sleep with us for as long as you like, Nina.”  _

“Get  _ up!”  _ Aversa shrieks. “Everyone up! I said get up  _ now _ !” Nina startles right out of her dream. Startles her out of her father’s loving arms and suddenly she’s struggling to cling to him. To the feeling of his chapped lips in her hair or the way his voice was full of affection for her. She can’t cling to it, though, and a few seconds later all recollection of what just happened is gone. Ophelia whimpers from her spot tucked into Nina’s chest and Nina sits up on her elbow to look out the window. 

Her heart sinks. Her eyes droop. “It’s still dark out,” She says. She has to clear her throat so that she doesn’t crack her voice, but when she looks back at Aversa she doesn’t seem amused. 

Aversa is gorgeous. She’s got coppery skin and silvery hair just like Nina, but they’re not related. Thank god for that, because she just can’t stand the bitch. But she  _ is _ beautiful. Nina can own up to that. She’s the prettiest woman Nina has ever seen, and it’s really a shame that her life amounted to bullying foster kids while the state pays her bills. She could have been something better, no doubt. 

If she had a heart, that is. But she doesn’t. Nina scrubs her eyes with her free hand. Mitama groans and rolls onto her side, where she supports her torso on the railing of the bunk bed. “Why do we have to get up so early? There’s no school until next year…” 

“Because this place is a shit show, that’s why.” Aversa positions her hands on her hips and she tilts them to one side while she talks. Her voice is… awful. Nina just can’t tolerate it so early. “I just got an email that the city is coming in to inspect. Surprise. So you brats are going to clean this place from top to bottom.” 

Nina can hear Rhajat grumbling, but if it’s a hex or a prayer that Aversa just goes away is up for debate. Aversa flicks the light on and all four girls flinch and whine in unison. “Did I stutter, girls? Get up! Get to work! No one eats or drinks  _ anything _ until this place shines, do you hear me? Don’t even brush your teeth! Now get  _ moving! _ ” 

She slams the door behind her on the way out and Nina thinks her eyeballs rattle around in her skull with how hard the room shakes behind her. “I hate her,” She mutters. 

Rhajat is up and pulling her hair back into a ponytail. “Come on,” She puts her hand out and Mitama uses it for balance while she jumps down onto the floor. She raises her hands to her mouth, to cover her yawn, but it doesn’t help. Just seeing her yawn makes Nina yawn too. “Let’s just get it over-with so we can eat and sleep.” 

“I’m thirsty, though,” Ophelia whispers. Nina looks down at her, and she’s curled up in a ball trying to motivate herself to get out of bed. With that, Nina slips out of bed and opens up the door to their little room. She peers down the hallway and sees nothing, but she can hear Aversa playing music from her bedroom. That’s the one room they’re not allowed in; she’ll clean it herself. 

Seeing as how she’s not here, though, Nina quietly clicks the door shut again and turns around. In her dresser drawer, tucked back under her pile of not-that-many clothes, she pulls out a bottle of water. She lets Ophelia have a drink first, but then passes it to the other two. Mitama sighs while she screws the cap back on. “What time is it?” 

“Four.” Rhajat is the one who answers, but before she can say anything else Aversa shouts down the hall that the mop water is ready. Rhajat walks out of the room, and for a moment there’s silence. Like continuing their conversation without her would be a crime. When she comes back she has a caddy of cleaning products, the bucket of water, and some rags and sponges. Nina sighs and takes the window cleaner out of the caddy to start spritzing them.

“Strip the beds, Mitama. Ophelia, go get a hamper for the sheets and laundry.” Ophelia nods her head dutifully and she toddles out the door. Mitama mutters a complaint, but she climbs up onto her bunk and starts pulling the sheets off of it anyway. 

“I suppose the silver lining to all this is she’ll have to let us have quarters for laundry,” She muses. Nina thinks that really  _ is _ a silver lining. Having to wear dirty clothes over and over is the worst. Washing them out with dish soap in the sink doesn’t always work, either, and they never dry as well as they do in the machines. “These sheets won’t dry without the machine… oh, I’m excited! Clean sheets!” 

“Don’t sound so pathetic,” Rhajat mutters. She sprinkles some kind of powdered detergent onto the floor. That’s probably not the best way to use it, but they’re not going to be able to make that water go far… and if they get more Aversa will probably be on top of them making sure they’re not drinking it. As it is, Nina wouldn’t drink that water if someone paid her. Knowing that crazy woman she probably mixed poison in it.

Well, no. She probably wouldn’t poison them. If she did then the state wouldn’t have to pay her to take care of them anymore, after all. Rhajat lifts the bucket and splatters half of it onto the floor. As she does Ophelia runs back inside, and in the crossfire she’s splattered. Rhajat’s face falls. “Oh; sorry,” She says. 

Ophelia looks down at herself, at her soaking nightgown, but then she just smiles bright. “I won’t melt!” She assures Rhajat. Nina smiles at them… before she goes back to wiping down the window. 

“You know,” Mitama says, “She’s bound to get caught one of these times. Then she’ll be gone forever and we’ll be free.” She wanders over and drops an armful of sheets into the hamper that Ophelia brought with her. Right after that she reaches down to the hem of Ophelia’s nightgown and peels it up over her head. 

Ophelia is quick to suck in a breath and hold it, like she’s been taken underwater. She hasn’t, and when her soaked nightgown is tossed in the hamper she releases it like she hasn’t breathed in days. 

“Come here,” Rhajat mutters, and she holds out her hand for Ophelia to step across the small ocean that is now their bedroom floor. As soon as she safely arrives in front of the dresser, Rhajat helps her tug a long t-shirt over her head. One of Nina’s, it hangs low on the littlest girl. 

“Get a sponge and start scrubbing the floors, Ophelia,” Nina chirps. “The sooner we get done the sooner we can eat something.” 

Ophelia sighs dramatically. It’s honestly cute, Nina thinks. “How come we have to do all the cleaning when she makes most of the mess?” Ophelia asks. She picks up a sponge that’s nearly the size of her head and gets on her knees on the floor to start scrubbing. Just like that the soap activates and the water spreads around. 

Rhajat picks up a rag and does the same thing on the other side of the room. Nina watches them for a moment, but then she turns her attention back to the window. The first glimpse of maybe a sun is coming up in the distance, over the skyline, but it’s not dawn just yet. 

“It’s just a hard-knock life, kid.”

Ophelia must accept that answer, because she starts cleaning. She only stops once to reach up and tuck her hair behind her ears. Mitama sighs while she gathers up all the laundry from inside their dressers. She hides them under the sheets in the hamper. (She’s going to make quite certain they have clean clothes, too, and Nina is thankful for that.) Rhajat grumbles something under her breath.

And then, “Wait… what does hard-knock life mean?” 

“It means our lives suck.” Rhajat answers. Ophelia turns and looks at Nina for confirmation. Nina just shrugs her shoulders and nods. Maybe not exactly, but that just about sums it up. But Ophelia’s face has her smiling.

“Oh,” Ophelia says softly, face contorted in deep, complex thought. “Then you’re right. This sucks.”

Nina snorts out a laugh. She sets aside the cleaner when she’s done there and gets down on the floor to help them scrub. “I’ve seen worse,” She promises. “This actually isn’t so bad for your first foster home. I’ve lived in places where the people actually followed through when they threatened to hurt you.” 

Rhajat grunts in agreement. Ophelia looks concerned… but they drop it. Instead they make quick work of their room and when they scrub their way down the hall and to the living room Mitama is in there picking up trash. Old bottles of wine coolers, wrappers from fast food, a million losing scratch-off tickets… They almost never spend time out here. It’s all Aversa’s mess, but they’ve got to get it cleaned up. 

“Laundry?” Nina asks. Mitama solutes her half heartedly. “Already started. She only gave me enough for one load, though…” So she leans in close and whispers, “If you find any quarters while we’re cleaning, save them up so I can sneak in another one.” 

The hardwood floors continue through the whole apartment but in the sitting room there’s an area rug covering most of it. While Rhajat works on the floors Ophelia runs over and starts sweeping out the ashes in the chimney. She sticks her head in to glance up, and she makes a face when some ashes drop down onto her nose. 

“Do you think he’ll come this year?” Ophelia chokes out her question and pulls her head back out of the chimney. Nina tries not to wince at the black smudge across her cheek.

Mitama and Nina exchange glances. 

“Santa Claus isn’t real, Ophelia,” Rhajat answers without even looking up from her task. Mitama gasps and Nina scoffs. 

“Don’t listen to her. She doesn’t think my parents are real either. What does she know?” Nina runs forward and helps Ophelia finish up clearing the soot out of the chimney. She also make a point to close the flue for now. 

“Rhajat is really smart,” Ophelia sighs. But she looks at Nina with bright eyes and a big smile. “Maybe he just doesn’t know where we are. Like your parents!” 

Nina boops her nose. “Exactly like that. Now come on, little lady!” She flings a throw-pillow at Ophelia and she giggles when it nearly knocks her over. “Fluff those pillows!” 

Mitama rushes past them with the bag of trash in her hands and collects more off of the mantle. As a team, they make good time cleaning the house. By the time 10 AM rolls around everything is done, Ophelia has had the soot scrubbed off her face, and Aversa is looking at her phone. 

“Can we eat now?” Mitama asks. Nina can already tell the answer is no. In fact, Aversa ignores the question altogether. 

“It took you rats twice as long to clean this place as it should have. The inspector will be here any minute. Go to your room and get dressed. Now, before I throw you in there by your hair.” 

Empty threats. Nina knows that Aversa won’t lay a physical finger on them because, well, they’d fight back. They would take the bruises to a doctor, to a cop, to anyone who would take them away from Aversa. But for now, while there’s no physical evidence of the damage she’s doing to them… Well, for now they can’t do much. Unfortunately, most people just think you’re being dramatic when you say your foster-parent is an ice queen with no sense of humanity. 

“And try to look presentable for once!” Aversa shouts after them. 

“Come on,” Nina says. She pulls Ophelia by her hand back to their room and as soon is the door is shut she helps her change into a sweet dress. It’s the only sweet dress Ophelia owns; everything else is rags that barely fit her because Aversa doesn’t buy them clothes. She doesn’t use any of the money she gets to take care of them to  _ actually _ take care of them, after all. She just spends it on whatever she wants and does the bare minimum to keep them alive. Like pets. 

Ophelia is ever optimistic, though. She’s just a gem. She’s got blonde hair and creamy, pale skin. She’s got freckles on her nose and big, bright, baby blue eyes. She’s adorable. If any of them are getting out of here, if anyone is getting adopted, it’s her. Nina is going to make sure of it, one day. She’s only known Ophelia for a little over a year, but she’s not going to let her life suck quite as badly as the rest of them. 

Thankfully, and for the most part, Mitama and Rhajat agree with that sentiment. They’ve just finished changing clothes. Nina is in the middle of pulling up her floorboard and tugging out a single package of chocolate, miniature donuts. She got them from school for free during finals; she knew better than to eat them then as a snack. There are eight donuts in the package and she divides it equally between them.

“Oh! Thank you, Nina!” Mitama whispers. Whispers because she doesn’t want Aversa to come in here and take the food away. She isn’t past  _ that _ . She once said, to Nina, that a human can live three weeks without food, so she better stop whining if she didn’t want to test that theory out. No breakfast? Fine; Nina will keep her mouth shut and hope for dinner later on. 

Nina is just about to bite into her first donut when a tapping on her window has her leaping out of her skin. She turns to see Soleil, and so she sets the donuts down beside Ophelia and wanders over to unlock it and shove it open. 

“Hey there, Romeo,” Nina says. “What are you doing here? You can’t stay; some inspector is coming. Allegedly.” 

“It’s today!” Soleil gasps, “I was totally wrong about what weekend the DNA test thing is. It’s today, like in an hour. We’ve got to go!” Her face falls and quite frankly that’s a crime because her smile is always so bright. Nina reaches forward and picks a leaf out of her hair. Must have cut through the park to get here faster; she’s in a hurry. “Inspection? Can you skip it?” 

“The witch will have a meltdown.” Rhajat answers instead of Nina. She looks up from her spot on her bunk at them. “She’ll have your head when you get back, you know. It’s a bad idea.” 

Nina hesitates. It  _ is _ a bad idea. Aversa  _ will _ have a meltdown. But that’s worth it. It’s definitely worth it, to find out who her parents are. She turns around and ruffles up Ophelia’s hair when she makes to grab her backpack from their bed. “Be good,” She commands softly. Ophelia bites her lip. There’s a smudge of chocolate on it. “You can have my donuts, but wash your face before Aversa sees you. Rhajat,” Nina turns her eyes to her, sharp and deadly. “Keep an eye on Ophelia.” 

“It’s your funeral,” Rhajat answers. 

With that she’s climbing out the window with Soleil, and rushing to duck around a corner before Aversa can see her and stop her from running away. With her hand tucked in Soleil’s it’s almost like a dream. Everything is falling into place! They’re going to go to the police department, have that ancestry test done, and they’re going to find out who Nina’s parents are.

Or, at least, Nina thinks so. Then she sees the line of people and says “Woah.” 

“Yeah, woah,” Soleil repeats. She tucks her hands in her coat pockets. “This is a lot of people.” 

“It’s not like it’s free,” Nina mutters. Why are so many people here? Do they really care about their ancestry? But her own sentence causes her to stutter and gasp. “Money! Soleil I don’t have the  _ money _ !” 

“I know, I got it,” Soleil answers. She holds up a wad of a few bills rolled up in a hair tie. Nina stares at it for a moment. 

“How did you get it?” 

“I begged my dad, duh. How else do I get money from my parents? I used to be able to do chores to earn it but now that we live with Xan-dad there’s like, a maid. A  _ maid _ , Nina. She cleans everything! Even the tile!” 

“Must be horrible.” Nina sighs and folds her arms against the cold. She sort of wants that coat again, but she won’t ask. She can tell Soleil is  _ actually _ cold today. “I clean the house and all I get is blisters.” 

“Speaking of,” Soleil brings Nina’s hand up to her lips and kisses one of those little blisters. Which is probably more gross than romantic, like she no-doubt intended. It’s… nice anyway. But while she’s holding on to Nina’s hand she places something else in it; a store-bought muffin wrapped in a plastic wrapper. 

Nina’s stomach growls just looking at it. “Let’s go get in line,” Nina insists instead of saying thank you. She takes the muffin and eats slowly, and she supposes it’s not Soleil’s fault that her parents are loaded now. It’s not her fault that even though they have plenty of money, Laslow insists on making Soleil work for what she wants. It’s just good parenting. Probably. 

Any parenting is good parenting in Nina’s book, though. Well, mostly. Nina eats her muffin while they wait in line, and Soleil talks to her a little more about her plans for the break. Mostly she’s just going to be spending time at home since her parents work, but she’s going to catch up on some podcasts she’s been behind on. 

“Hey,” Nina decides to ask around a mouthful of apple cinnamon muffin, “How is your other dad? I still haven’t met him. He’s still good though, right? The honeymoon phase isn’t wearing off?” 

Soleil snorts. “He’s not  _ my  _ husband. But I mean it’s going okay. Dad had to change jobs because HR got involved with them working so closely once they got married, but he’s happy. I mean he’s really happy; he smiles all the time. They’re still awfully cute together too. They read together and watch movies on the couch and all that.” 

Nina grins. That does sound cute, and she’s sure it’s just dripping with romance, but… “Well I actually meant do  _ you _ like him. Not your dad.” 

“I love him!” Soleil nods her head. “And not because he’s rich. He’s strict enough to outweigh that. He’s just cool. He makes these jokes; Nina they’re so dumb. They’re the dumbest jokes you ever heard and he says them with  _ such _ a straight face and you just have to stop and figure out if he was joking. Once I had to circle back to what he said like four times.” 

Nina’s smile grows while Soleil talks. Thank goodness she likes her dad. “How come it took you so long to talk about him? I thought you hated him or something; you barely say a word!” 

“I just didn’t want to… I don’t know. Brag?” Soleil slips her arm around Nina’s shoulder and pulls her close. Nina might fight it any other day, but it’s just warm enough to persuade her not to pull away. 

Brag. Soleil didn’t want to talk about how much she loves her new dad because she was worried Nina would be upset? Maybe that’s a fair statement. Nina wants a dad too, but she’s not jealous of Soleil’s. She wants  _ her _ dad. “That’s dumb. It’s not bragging to talk about your parents. I’ve got parents too! Somewhere anyway.” 

“A super cute dad and a super cute mom,” Soleil suggests easily. Nina supposes that’s true. Most people have a mom and a dad. But that seems wrong, to her. 

“I actually think…” She begins quietly. Then she frowns. “I think it’s weird. I remember having a dad. I remember more about him than… I don’t know.” 

Soleil dips her head to one side and her smile turns concerned. “Babe?” 

“Stop calling me that,” Nina mumbles. She folds her arms. “I don’t remember a mom. I mean  _ obviously _ I don’t remember a lot of things, but… I don’t remember a mom. Just that one of them was like the sunshine and the other was like moonlight.” 

It’s poetic. Mitama told her that once. Nina’s written a poem or two about it in her journals before. But it’s really true. She remembers bright, brilliant… well dad number one. And she remembers the one from her earlier dream too, soft like the night. Maybe she’s just mixing up her memories with her daydreams. It’s not a secret that she’s taken up an interest in gay fanfiction. But she doesn’t think that has anything to do with it. She just… Thinks she has two dads.

“Okay. A super cute dad and a super cute other dad. And we’re going to find them!” Soleil sounds so sure of herself! Nina is reassured by that alone.

Before they know it they’re positioned at the front of the line and one of the officers smiles at her. He takes their money from them and explains how the swab test works. “It’s just a little Q-Tip. We get some spit from the inside of your cheek and that’s it. Fast and painless.” 

“Fast and painless,” Nina repeats softly. The woman actually holding the swab looks at her with a brow raised high with curiosity. 

“You’re the youngest person I’ve helped today. Are you doing a project for school?” She puts on a fresh pair of gloves, prepares a small plastic  _ thing _ to drop the swab into, and then she gently reaches out to touch Nina’s chin. “Say ‘ah’.” 

“Aaaeeeeehhh,” Nina makes a noise and tries not to be worried. She shouldn’t gag over this, but she just doesn’t like having cotton swabs in her mouth. Thankfully it’s over fast and she shakes her head no while she tries to get the taste of cotton to pass. “I’m trying to track down who my parents are,” She answers. 

“What?” There’s another guy sitting here. He’s also a cop, but he doesn’t seem like he’s helping greet people or perform the tests. Maybe he’s taking a break. Nina looks at him and tries to smile, but she doesn’t like him already. She can just sort of tell. He’s rude! It’s all in the tone of his voice. “What are you, adopted?” 

“Foster kid,” Nina corrects. It’s a common mistake. “My parents left me when I was little, and now I’m trying to track them down.” 

“I see,” The man says. Nina watches with some fascination while the woman who did her test swishes the swab around in that weird container and then sets it in a cooler with about ten other tests. This one has her name on it, of course. 

“The results will be mailed out,” She says. Her voice is sweet. She’s being nice, but it could be fake. She is just doing her job, after all. Soleil perks up and raises her hand.

“My address! Here, let me write it down,” While the woman helps Soleil fill out the form to mail out the results, Nina tries not to pay attention to that guy.

But he won’t stop staring and so she frowns at him. “Do I have something on my face?” 

“I just don’t know what you think you’re gonna find.” He gestures to her with his hand and she’s not even sure what he wants. “Why did your parents leave you, huh?” 

“They were homeless,” Nina answers matter-of-factly. “They were protecting me. That’s all.” 

“Listen, this test only works if we can match their DNA to a DNA bank. Unless your parents work for the government, are filthy rich, or are criminals, it’s not going to come back with any results.” He shrugs his shoulders. The woman working with Soleil rolls her eyes and scowls at him. Oh; maybe she  _ is _ nice after all.

Nina tries not to look defeated. She’s not. This is definitely going to work. “It’s worth trying,” She starts to say. 

But then he says something that makes Nina see red. “Then again, if they were homeless they probably were thieves anyway. They may be in there.” 

“My parents are  _ not _ criminals!” She shouts. The entire line of people behind her flinches, and Soleil more than any. She pushes the paper back towards the woman and wraps her arms gently through one of Nina’s. Nina can barely stand it; she wants to fight him!

“I’m not saying..!” 

“They’re  _ heroes _ do you hear me? They gave up so much to keep me safe!” She’s furious. She just wants to jump across the table and knock the teeth out of this idiot. Maybe Soleil notices that, because she pulls her away by her arm. Maybe for the best; getting arrested for taking out an officer would be embarrassing for both parties.

“Thanks so much for the help! Can’t wait for the results!” She calls back to the woman who helped them. Then she pulls Nina’s wrist and runs a block away with her. 

“He doesn’t know what he’s talking about,” Soleil starts to say, breathlessly. Nina is all but fuming now, steam pouring out of her ears and fire from her mouth. Soleil rubs her hands up and down Nina’s arms gently. “Don’t listen to what he said. Come on Nina, breathe.” 

“I  _ am _ breathing! I’m just pissed! How dare he? He has  _ no idea _ who my parents are. Why the  _ hell _ would he insult them like that?” She puts her hands on her hips and her anger comes out in a sigh the size of a tidal wave. Or maybe it’s a growl.

“Come on, think happy thoughts. There’s no point in dwelling on that one jerk. Besides, we got the test done! You’ll have it back soon!” 

Nina hesitates a moment before she groans and rolls her eyes. “I  _ guess _ ! But he didn’t exactly make it sound promising.” She pushes her hands into her hair to pull it off her neck. She’s just angry. Super angry. Why should that guy have so much nerve? He deserves to sit on a tack or something. 

“Let’s think of happy stuff instead,” Soleil tries again. Nina groans. Then Soleil takes both of Nina’s hands in hers and starts to  _ sing _ and it’s outrageous. Well, not outrageous. It’s sweet. She sings the song Nina’s parents used to sing for her. She just does an rough job of it. No offense to Soleil, but she’s an awful singer. Worse dancer. But she does just good enough with this one. She’s had a lot of practice with this particular song, knowing Nina for so long. 

Nina’s lips turn up into a little bit of a smile, but she shakes her head. “That won’t work. I’m too mad for singing.”  

_ “Just thinkin’ about tomorrow clears away the cobwebs and the sorrow, til there’s none,” _ Soleil sings with a smile plastered on her face. She brings her hands up instead to hold Nina’s face, to squish her cheeks together and force her to smile until she actually does. She bursts into a few giggles and shoves on Soleil.

Soleil’s smile cracks open and she giggles too. “Come on! You know you sing it way better than me, babe.” But she is resilient! She pulls one of Nina’s hands up in the air and guides her to twirl in a circle.

“You’re the worst,” Nina laughs, but she spins as she’s prompted and picks up the words of the song with her.  _ “When I’m stuck with a day that’s grey and lonely,” _ They sing in an entirely un-harmonic harmony.  _ “I just stick out my chin, and grin, and say… _ Oh!” 

Oh, indeed. Nina was walking the curb and using Soleil’s hand to support her, but very abruptly Soleil’s hand is gone and Nina gasps when she trips over the sidewalk and falls onto her hands and knees right in front some random guy. “ _ Damn it!”  _ She hisses. She looks at her hands. One of them is just scraped up but the other one slid over a rock and has a bloody cut in it, now. 

“Oh,” The man says, too. He crouches somewhat and offers her his hand to get back up. “Are you alright?” 

“No. I mean, yeah, I’m fine. Just… I don’t know.” She grumbles at him. Then she  _ looks _ at him. He’s tall, slim, and he has the prettiest blonde hair anyone has ever had probably ever. It’s trimmed into a precise style, long enough that his bangs come down to cover his forehead. Maybe it’s the wind, but one piece is sticking up funny. “Sorry guy.” 

“Leo,” He introduces himself. “Leo Vigarde. And don’t apologize; be more careful. Where are you going all by yourself out here? Are you bleeding, there on your hand?” 

“What?” Nina looks at her hand again. Yeah, she’s bleeding, but she’s fine. It’s a scrape. It doesn’t need stitches or anything. She’s more preoccupied with his last name. Vigarde. That sounds familiar, like  _ super _ familiar, but she can’t really place it.

“Your hand, there,” Leo says. He pulls his phone out of the pocket of his stylish coat and begins tapping out a message. “I’ll have my assistant come back this instant with the first aid kit. He’s always got bandages handy.” 

“Oh,” Nina begins, but then she shrugs. “I don’t know if that’s really necessary.” 

“Are your parents around here, somewhere?” Leo asks. 

It’s not his fault. Honestly! He doesn’t know that she doesn’t have any means to find her parents. He doesn’t know that she’s had an emotional roller coaster of a morning, and that she didn’t get to sleep last night. It’s not his fault, but she shrieks in rage and turns to storm off. 

“Wait!” Leo calls after her, but she just leaves.

When she’s wandering down the street, that’s when his assistant arrives. Odin jogs over and waves a pocket first-aid kit in front of him. “Leo! Leo, are you alright?” He asks, “Are you hurt?”

“I’m fine,” Leo answers. He tucks his hands back into his coat. “That girl over there with the light hair. She tripped and skinned up her hand, but she wasn’t interested in waiting around for you, I suppose. Ah, well.” 

Odin turns his attention to the girl. She’s just a teenager, a kid, and she’s alone now. Walking off towards the slums where Odin knows first hand it can be hard to get by… but she’s not even interested enough to turn around and cast him a glance. He doesn’t bother chasing her down, but he finds his chest tightening when he watches her walk. She doesn’t even have a coat on! But she’s fine. She must be, because she didn’t want a bandage. Besides… he can’t single handedly save every kid in this town. She might not even need saving.

“Odin?” Leo asks. Odin blinks and turns to look back at his boss. Then he smiles brightly. 

“Nothing, nothing,” He says. “I was lost in thought.” He tucks the first-aid kit into his coat pocket and then starts to adjust his scarf. “So, shall we resume working out the details of the announcement for your sponsorship? I can’t wait to hear what people have to say about it. Fostering a child for the holidays! It’s certain to be a life-altering opportunity!” 

“Yes, well, I know caring for the less fortunate is near and dear to yours and Niles’s hearts. Come with me. I’d like to discuss this further over lunch.” Leo turns and begins to walk back towards where the car is parked. Odin lingers only a moment longer. He turns once more and catches a last glimpse of that girl disappearing into the distance. His lips press together into a tight line. He considers, a last time, chasing her. A gut instinct deep inside of him says he should go make sure she really is fine. The instinct of a Chosen One is rarely wrong, but… he turns and walks back to the car, with Leo.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> please don't bank on updates every two days i'm sure to run out of this tidal wave of motivation at some point but in the mean time here you go please enjoy more annie au.


	3. You're Always A Day Away.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Everything is changing, and Nina isn't even sure which way is up, but she's got to follow her instinct and find her parents.

Nina digs her hands into her pockets and tries not to _growl_ she’s so furious. She just needs something to take her rage out on. A tin can in her path suffers some of it, but it’s just not enough. Why is everyone out to get her today, huh? First the cop, then that Leo guy, and where the _hell_ did Soleil even vanish to in Nina’s time of need, huh?

Then, as if the day could get any worse, she hears a dog whimpering. She snaps her head to the side and sees a couple of boys about her age harassing a dog. One has his arms wrapped around it to hold it still and the other is tying paper bags to his feet. Why? There’s no reason to do that. What are they, two?

Suddenly Nina knows _exactly_ how to take out her rage. “Hey you!” She shouts at them. She pushes her sleeves up like she’s about to wind up her fist. “You leave him alone!”

They’re maybe just a touch younger than her. Maybe not in high school yet. Still scrawny, but old enough to know they’re being assholes. She waits impatiently but they don’t stop. One boy, the one doing the tying, eventually stands up and wanders closer to her. “Go home, little girl. This isn’t your business.”

Nina decks him. Oh man, she punches that kid square in the jaw and he falls over onto his ass. After his initial shock he scrambles up to his feet. For a moment Nina wonders if she’s about to have a throwdown, and without Soleil to back her up. Two against one aren’t great odds, but she’s ready! She has the rage of ten women! “Do you wanna sleep with your teeth inside your mouth, or out, huh? I _said_ , leave him alone!”

They run. They run right past her and out of the alley and Nina says a silent prayer of thanksgiving because she may not have won, realistically. But she jogs a few steps to the poor dog and starts to free him. One after another she helps him shed the booties until he’s free. “Were those jerks mean to you?” Nina asks in a coo. Like baby talk, but for a dog, which is way cuter than a baby in her not-so-humble opinion.

He’s a sheep dog. And a puppy, she now realizes! He’s got huge paws and white and grey fur and a big floppy tongue panting out of his mouth. Nina giggles. She reaches up and scritches behind his ears and he just rolls into her hand for more attention. “Are you a good boy?”

His tail waggles. “Oh?” Nina asks, “Yeah? You _are_ a good boy? I knew you were. I can tell just looking at you. So what’s your name?” She slides her hand up to the dog’s neck and she realizes then he has a collar. Maybe he’s a runaway? There’s a license on it, but all it says is that he’s vaccinated and has a microchip.

What a waste! That doesn’t give her any bit of insight on the name of her new favorite pup! “I guess I’ll just have to name you,” She decides. And what should it be? When she was young she always felt naming a character for a story was almost as important as their personality. She thinks, once upon a time, her dad told her that. She kind of remembers making up stories with him, but she can’t remember them at all.

She’s not totally sure what she wants to name him when she decides it’s dumb. She doesn’t need to name someone else’s dog. She doesn’t know his personality or backstory or future story. She barely knows her own. Besides, she needs to get back to face Aversa’s wrath.

“Okay, pupper, I’ve gotta go now. I need to go home. You should go home too. At least you’ve got a real one. I wish I could use a microchip to find _my_ parents.” Nina dusts off the seat of her pants and begins a walk back to the apartment.

Just one glance over her shoulder is evidence enough: the puppy is following her. For a minute she wonders if it would be possible to hoist him up the ladder and keep him. Hide him from Aversa. Ophelia would adore him, and she would certainly know what to name him. “Shoo!” She says. She keeps walking.

By the time she gets back to the building the dog is gone. That’s kind of sad too, but at least he’s got a home to go to. His owners are probably looking all over for him.

It only takes her a moment to realize there’s something wrong with the fire escape. It won’t come down! Nina jerks harder on the ladder but then she hears something rattling. Chains. “Seriously?!” She squawks. How can she chain up a _fire escape?_ Didn’t the inspector have something to say about _that_?

Well, Nina thinks, she probably put them on after he left. And, left with no other option, Nina hesitantly walks up the steps into the front door of the building. She presses down on the buzzer and waits. And waits. And waits.

The door clicks open and Nina breathes out a nervous sigh. Once she’s made her way up the stairs she turns the knob on the apartment’s door. It opens, to her surprise. She slips inside. It looks nice. Smells nice. At least Aversa didn’t ruin it already, since they just cleaned it this morning.

She’s almost made it down the hall to her room. Maybe Aversa won’t say anything? That seems suspicious. She had to have let her in, she was the one who answered the buzzer. Right?

“Stop right there.” Oh. Nina sighs and turns around to face Aversa. She’s at the end of the hallway with a drink in her hand.

“Yes, Miss Aversa?” Nina asks, polite as she can muster. Today has been awful, and it’s only about to get worse. Listening to this woman’s shrill voice is just going to push her over the edge into insanity.

“Who the _hell_ do you think you are, little girl? You just up and left! You made me look like an idiot in front of that social worker. An idiot! It was _your_ caseworker!”

Oh. Nina is almost disappointed she missed Charlotte. She’s super nice. She’s honest and funny and has a laugh that comes out as a snort. But she’s fake nice to most adults. She hates most of them, and you can tell listening to her. It’s like she’s a completely different person. Once Nina asked why she does that. Charlotte said she’s seen so many hurt kids that she wouldn’t even trust herself if she didn’t know better.

Even if Charlotte is the one who has had to help her move between homes all this time, she’s not a mean lady. They get along. Charlotte even knows about Nina’s letter.

“So what did you tell her?” Nina asks. She tries not to smile. If Charlotte came there to check in on Nina and didn’t _find her_ ? Yeah, no doubt Aversa was embarrassed. The smile is wiped clean off her face when the short glass Aversa is drinking from goes flying past Nina’s head. It splatters and shatters into a million pieces against the wall by her bedroom door. The smile is gone _entirely_ , because Aversa has never, _ever_ tried to hurt them before

“I told her to get you the _hell_ out of my house, that’s what! I’m sick of you! But don’t worry. I told her everything she needs to know. About how you don’t get along with any of the girls here, how you’re always sneaking out, how you need a little more… supervision. I’d pack up. Next week you’re heading off to someplace special. Can you say ‘boarding school’?”

Nina’s heart sinks. What if Charlotte really does put her there? It’s not like she has many options left that she hasn’t tried. Nina doesn’t want to be taken away from Soleil. She doesn’t want to leave behind her friends _here_ either. Not to mention Ophelia. She needs Nina! She swallows a knot in her throat but stares, unwavering. Brave, because she’s always brave.

Aversa clearly isn’t done talking, either. She looks so smug, like she’s won the lottery by sentencing Nina to be sent away forever. “You’re an idiot, kid. Where’d you run off to, to find your parents again? They’re not coming back for you. They left that stupid note so you didn’t think they were jerks but that’s all they are. Poor, rotten people who never wanted you in the first place. And no one ever will! Who would want a bratty teenager with an attitude like yours?”

Nina is quiet still. She’s thinking about the glass on the floor, shattered. She’s wondering if Aversa would hurt her, for real, if she talked back. “Get out of my sight.” Aversa finally mutters. She turns and walks into her room. Nina leaves the glass on the floor. She turns around and she can see three sets of eyes watching from the cracked doorway to her room.

They scatter when she walks inside. “Hey guys!” She says chipper as ever.

Rhajat, Mitama, and Ophelia all three try to look like nothing is wrong… but then Ophelia starts to cry. “You’re not really going to be sent away forever, are you?” She asks.

“Oh, don’t cry,” Nina says. She picks Ophelia up under her legs and sways with her. “You’ll be alright without me. And you’ll get the bed all to yourself!”

Ophelia cries harder. Nina wanders over to the window and looks out it while she swings her around. “You’re gonna be alright, Ophie. Mitama and Rhajat will be here. They’ll take care of you, right?”

Mitama nods her head dutifully. Rhajat just has a frown on her face. “Maybe,” Ophelia sniffles and wipes her nose on the sleeve of her shirt. She leans back to look at Nina and Nina dips her head to one side, patiently waiting to hear what she has to say. “I’ve been wishing on stars, Nina! Praying that Lady Fate will bring your parents home to you. M-Maybe they’ll find you before you have to leave?”

“Maybe.” Nina smiles. “Come on, don’t cry. Tomorrow will be a better day.” She puts her nose in Ophelia’s hair and nuzzles the top of her head. _“The sun’ll come out… tomorrow. Bet your bottom dollar that tomorrow, there’ll be sun.”_

Ophelia doesn’t stop crying easily, and Nina is skeptical any amount of singing can fix how god-awful this day was.

・。・゜★・。・。☆・゜・。・゜。・。・゜★・。・。☆・。・゜★・。・。☆・゜・。・゜。・。・゜★・。・。☆

This building looks… awful. Odin doesn’t particularly like the way it looks, and the fire escape has… chains on it. Is that legal? When he reached out to make the arrangements to pick up an orphan for Leo to sponsor over the holidays, he was directed here by a woman named Charlotte. She said that there was a couple of good girls here, that she had been there earlier for a routine inspection.

Odin can’t say you could tell from the exterior of the building, though. He pushes down on the buzzer and waits patiently. Nothing happens… and so he jams it with his thumb again. Maybe he didn’t push it hard enough before.

He startles when the voice on the other side of the speaker shouts at him. _“Who is it?!”_

Rude much? Odin tries to regain his composure but part of his motivation is lost. Maybe he should just leave? He’s genuinely considering it. Instead he takes a deep breath and decides to hold his finger on the intercom button. “Hello? My name is Odin Bennett. I’m here to meet with a Miss Aversa?”

“We don’t want any.” Aversa’s voice snaps. “No soliciting.”

 _Go home,_ Odin’s mind chirps. _Go find an orphan somewhere else._ _Leo won’t know the difference._ He clears his throat. “I work for Leo Vigarde. The, er, billionaire.”

Not even a whole second later the buzzer wails and Odin is pulling the door open. When he gets up the stairs he’s met at the door of the apartment by Aversa herself. She leans against the door frame. “So what exactly are you doing here? What does a billionaire want with me?”

“Aha! Not you, per se, but one of the girls in your care. Leo is partnering with a local charity to help those in need. In addition to his donations, he’s decided to take in an orphan over the holiday break.”

“Ugh. Why?” Aversa steps aside so that Odin can step inside. He does, taking a quick look around. It seems pretty clean, at least. “Who would want to take in an ungrateful brat?”

“I’m sure that’s not how you really feel about these girls,” Odin says. “I’ve got all the paperwork in order, I just need a signature from you, and… where exactly are the girls?”

“The only one in here right now is Nina,” Aversa practically gags while she says the name. Odin’s favorite name in the whole world, actually, and it makes his heart stutter in his chest. “All the rest are out in the alley playing or something.”

“Nina?” He asks. He looks past Aversa down the hall.

“Yeah. She’s awful. You won’t like her. Besides, she’s delusional.”

For just a moment, Odin hesitates. Delusional? What is that supposed to mean? He’s been called the same thing a time or two in his life, but that doesn’t make it true. “I beg your pardon?”

Aversa groans. “When she got dumped into the system her parents left a stupid note saying they’d be back for her. She still believes it! There’s three other girls, you’ll like them _far_ more.”

Odin shakes is head. “I’m sure that’s not true. May I go introduce myself to her?” He swallows back any other arguments. It’s just not his place to argue with Aversa about something he knows very little about. Even if he thinks he knows more of this story than he lets on. Even if part of him just wants to run down the hall and confirm it for himself.

“I guess.” Aversa rolls her eyes. “Don’t come crying to me when she snaps at you or something. She’s in the room at the end of the hall.”

There’s a reason why caring for those less fortunate is near and dear to Odin and Niles’s hearts. They struggled for so long, and they know that not everyone is as lucky as they are. They got through it okay. They only lost one thing, but they lost the most precious thing in this world.

So now his skin is crawling while he walks down the hall. He lays his hand on the knob and his arm itches under his sleeve where his birthmark is. His blood is calling out to him, telling him something magnificent lays behind this door. Something incredible is about to happen, his gut screams, and he turns the knob.

His heart skips.

There she is, lounging on her bed, laying on her belly and reading a book. Her ankles are crossed in the air behind her and she’s got the same face she had as a little girl. She’s reading with that same look of concentration and excitement she used to wear when Odin read to her; like she might miss an important part of the story if she loses focus.

But she stops when he comes in. It’s not surprising that he broke her focus. She looks up at him and her starlight hair topples over her shoulder. There she is, exactly how he dreams she should look. She’s got Niles’s eyes and hair and skin but when he looks at her now Odin can also see his mother’s nose and long eyelashes and even some of himself, and she’s just… _Wow._

It’s her. It’s got to be her. Odin has never been more sure of anything before in his entire life, just that he’s looking at his baby girl. Oh, and she’s beautiful. She’s beautiful and suddenly Odin is heartbroken all over again, because he missed it. He missed her first day of school and he missed her growing up and turning into the young woman she is now.  
  
But it’s not over! She’s still only just fourteen. She’s got several more years yet that she can be a kid, and Odin doesn’t want to miss even just one more _second_ of it.

“Uh,” She raises her eyebrow at him, god she looks just like Niles in that moment, and Odin realizes he’s been staring. How can he help it? “Who are you? Can I help you?” He watches while she shifts to sit up on her bed. She closes her book and she waits for an explanation for why he’s acting so creepy, no doubt, but he has none. No good one.

A lie; he has the most reasonable explanation in the entire world, but he simply can’t just blurt that he’s her father. That would be tactless. Instead he blurts his name. “Odin,” He says, breathlessly. “Er! I am _Odin Dark!_ But I also go by Odin Bennett. Are you Nina?” Of course she’s Nina. She’s definitely Nina. Odin’s eyes sting. Goodness knows he’s an ugly man when he cries—maybe he can will himself not to. “I work for Leo Vigarde. He’s inviting an orphan to stay with him during the holidays. I thought maybe we could talk about that?”

“I’m not an orphan.” Nina says matter-of-factly. “I have parents. And did you say Leo Vigarde? Is this because I scraped my hand yesterday? Jeez, I didn’t know he was that worried about it. It’s just a little cut.”

“You scraped your hand.” Odin thinks back to the afternoon before. He saw her. He saw her walking away and his instincts screamed at him to chase after her right then and he hadn’t, but now it’s obvious. It’s so obvious that he saw her yesterday. He could have met her sooner if he had just trusted his own intuition. “I didn’t get the chance to meet you. You left by the time I arrived; did you get that properly cleaned up?”

“Uh, yeah.” Nina turns her hand over for him to see. A thin red scab, but there’s no infection brewing. “Anyway, I guess you can tell Leo I’m _fine_ and he doesn’t have to offer to adopt me or something. What a weirdo.”

“He’s not planning to adopt,” Odin assures her. “This is a sponsorship. A chance for you to see a different part of Windmire, and to take advantage of some of the resources available to you. It’s to benefit your education and for fun! That you happened to be the same little girl that he met yesterday must be nothing more than a whim of fate.”

“Yeah? Well I’m not interested. Ophelia would be a good choice though. She needs an education.” Nina leans back on her hands where she sits. Odin thinks that she’s not entirely wrong. He came here to meet several girls and choose one who would be a good fit. He intended to visit several locations. Meet other children. But this… this gives him a chance to take Nina with him _right now_. He already lost her in the system once. He’s not interested in doing it again. “I’m getting shipped off to boarding school next week anyway.”

“Not if you’re with Leo, you aren’t.” Odin rolls in his lips. Boarding school? For what reasons? He wants to be angry. He is angry! He tries to clear it from his mind. “You said you have parents?”

Nina grumbles. Odin waits. She breaks, eventually. “Okay, fine. I can’t be your orphan because I have parents who left me but they promised they’d come back, so I’m just a foster kid, okay? Not an orphan. My parents are out there somewhere, and I’m trying to track them down, so I don’t really have time to… wait,”

Odin waits, albeit with concern on his face. He’s just swept away, but Nina goes on to say “Rich people have access to a lot of cool resources, right? Maybe I can use that to help me find them…”

“...Nina? You’re mumbling. Speak up! Speak your mind and the world will be forced to listen.” Odin smiles, tries to act his normal self, but his heart is heavy. He can’t believe it’s her, but it _is._ She’s his baby girl, right in front of him, and he can’t even say it yet. He wants to, wants to so bad, but he knows not to spring something wild like that on her when she’s a perfect stranger to him right now. He needs to talk to Niles about it first, do the research on how being reunited works.

But he never thought he’d find her again! They’ve spent years searching, digging, scouring the foster care systems in not only this city but all of Nohr. It’s nearly impossible to track down a child without their Social, and hers was assigned to her after Odin and Niles dropped her off. They never knew it.

Oh, he wants to hold her. He wants to sweep her up into his arms and pet her hair and breathe her in. He misses her _so much_ , and here she is. Here she is, and she’s been looking for them, too. “Okay,” She decides. “I want to go. Can I go spend the winter break with him or whatever?”

“Yes, of course you can,” Odin grins. He shouldn’t be doing this. He was supposed to pick out a kid to spend the holidays with Leo. It wasn’t supposed to be his own daughter. It wasn’t supposed to be about Odin’s feelings. “Leo would be delighted to have you. We all will.”

He’s not sure if he’s going to get a lecture or not, but he can’t wait. He can’t wait to take her back. To give her the world, to give her everything he should have given her for the past ten years. Granted, at Leo’s expense, for now, but they’ll repay him. He’ll understand later. Once they work out all the details, everything will fall into place.

He holds out his hand in a stance he can only hope encompasses his dramatic flair. “Then come with me, Nina of Windmire, and I will guide you into the parts of this city some people only dream of! Er—after you sign the temporary guardianship paperwork I’ve procured.”

Nina holds his gaze and then her face cracks and she laughs. Oh, his heart! Her laugh is like butterflies tickling his very soul! She looks at him with such a big smile and he’s never loved someone quite like he loves her already. Like he’s always loved her, from the day she was born and they wrapped her up in Niles’s shirt until this very moment with her smile enchanting his soul.

 _Niles_ , he thinks, will have a heart attack. He’s going to be so excited in his last living moments, though! It will be a worthy death.

“Okay, but before we go I need to do one thing, okay?”

Odin's smile falters briefly but he resumes standing in a normal position and nods his head. “Anything you need! Is there some way I can assist?”

Nina snickers and slides off her bed. “What are you, a butler?”

“Er, no. But you’ll have a butler and a maid to wait on you. I’m Leo’s personal secretary—didn’t I mention that?” Odin dips his head to the side. “If you sign this document I’ll take care of Aversa. Why don’t you finish up what you need to do and pack up your bags?”

Nina pats her school backpack. It’s depressingly empty looking. “Everything I own is already in here, so… be right back! I’ve got to say goodbye to the other girls.”

She scribbles her signature on Odin's clipboard before she runs past him. He stares after her and thinks… no way, right? Everything she owns fits in that bag, and it’s not even bulging?

He takes a moment to really look around the room. There are four girls here, but only three beds. One dresser; they must share. Nina doesn’t have much to her name, and… how does this happen? Is foster care really like this everywhere, or did his little girl just manage to get the worst of it?

He closes the door behind him when he exits that room. He wanted to give Nina the best in life, but if that means he has to make up for lost time he’s more than willing.

・。・゜★・。・。☆・゜・。・゜。・。・゜★・。・。☆・。・゜★・。・。☆・゜・。・゜。・。・゜★・。・。☆

Nina can’t really believe this is happening. She’s pretty sure it’s a dream. But she has to follow through with it. There’s a good chance she can use this rich guy’s resources to find her parents, and even if she can’t she’s going to live it up before she gets shipped off to boarding school.

She starts by telling the girls, of course. She runs outside and finds them playing jump rope. Or at least Ophelia and Mitama are. Rhajat has tied her end of the rope to a chair and is just reading, but she’s keeping an eye on them while they play.

“Guys,” She says. Mitama stops spinning the rope and Ophelia stops hopping. Rhajat glances up from behind her book. “I’m going to stay with Leo Vigarde! For the winter break.”

“I thought you were going away?” Ophelia asks. She runs forward and hugs Nina around her waist. Nina smooths her hand along the back of her head.

“I am,” Nina answers easily. “But not yet. First I’m going to stay with Leo.”

“Isn’t he rich?” Rhajat raises a sharp brow at Nina.

“Yeah, that’s the point. I’m going to get him to help me find my parents before I get sent away. It’s brilliant.”

“It’s inspired!” Mitama agrees. She rushes forward and hugs Nina, with Ophelia smushed between them. “You’re going to find them! I can tell! It’s written in the stars!”

“Wait,” Rhajat stands up. She leaves her book on the chair and positions her hands on her hips. “Why? Why does this guy want you to come stay with him? Are you sure this isn’t some kind of scam?”

“I don’t really know. His secretary said he was doing a sponsorship or something. It’s my last chance. I’ve got to do it!”

“You’ve got to!” Ophelia reaches up and so Nina picks her up and holds her on her hip. “But don’t forget about us when you do.”

“I could never!” Nina scoffs, but after that she rubs her nose against Ophelia’s. “You’re my sister, through and through. All of you are!” Well, especially Ophelia, but she loves all of these girls like family. “Watch out for each other.”

“Nina?” Odin calls from the steps. She kisses Ophelia’s head and sets her down. Then she bumps her fist against Mitama and waves at Rhajat. She runs back to Odin and he waits for her to strap her backpack onto her shoulder. “You should get your coat.”

“I don’t have one.” Nina answers plainly. She watches Odin carefully. He seems nice. His hair isn’t as pretty as Leo’s but it’s kind of the color of sunshine, so even though it’s snowing out here and grey outside he seems warm. “Ready to go?”

“Of course! A hero is never idle, and we need to move quickly to the car so you don’t freeze. Then we’ll go get you a coat.”

“Really?” Nina asks. “Is that okay? I don’t have any money to pay you back.”

Odin wraps his arm around her shoulder and he guides her to walk. Together, like that, they begin to make their way up the street to where a car is parked and a driver is waiting for them. She sort of likes it. It’s nice to be held close like that, and the way he chuckles is reassuring. “You don’t have to pay me back! I insist we get you a coat.  We’ll go right now! And when we’re through, we’ll go back across town to Leo’s mansion! He’ll be excited to meet you again. Properly. And you’ll meet some of the other people who work for him, like Felicia, or Flora, or Niles.”  
  
Nina nods her head. Okay. This is going to be exciting! An adventure, one where she’s going to find her parents! An adventure that starts with climbing into a fancy car with Odin Dark-Bennett.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> pls i'm serious don't expect updates every two days


	4. I Think I'm Gonna Like It Here!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After meeting Leo, Odin and Niles show Nina the ropes.

Nina cannot  _ believe _ this place. She’s only seen one of the hallways but she can’t  _ believe _ it. The moment they walked in, Nina wrapped up in a new coat, she realized that she was in way over her head. This is literally a mansion. As soon as the front doors were pulled open and they stepped inside, Nina laid eyes on something from a fairytale.

In the entry hall are two staircases that come down from the second floor. They’re shaped like a C and they’re both decorated with bushels of pine and garland and tinsel. There’s a chandelier hanging from the ceiling that Nina is pretty convinced is bigger than her entire bedroom. It’s made of crystals that may as well be diamonds. Isn’t this guy a billionaire? Maybe it  _ is _ made out of diamonds. 

There’s a sitting area off to the left and a Christmas tree as tall as the room. It’s crammed full of decorations. Baubles shaped like the crest of Nohr and orbs with a rainbow design and bright lights to make them glimmer. Odin doesn’t spend too much time in here dawdling, though. He says “Come this way, Leo will be in his study.” 

He settles his hand between her shoulder blades and guides her to the right. Nina has to crane her neck to keep taking in all the things there are to see. Fancy artwork, framed mirrors, tables and displays with vases and busts… “Is this place for real? You could fit the entire city in here.”

Odin chuckles at her again. “Yes. It’s magnificent! Wouldn’t you say?” 

Since earlier that day Nina has decided she likes Odin. It’s only been a couple hours since they met, but she’s pretty convinced he’s the nicest guy she ever met ever. He took her to the fanciest store in the city to get a coat, she’s sure of it. While they were there he insisted on getting her new shoes too, and he promised she wouldn’t have to pay it back. 

He’s really fun to talk to. He has this weird way of flipping back and forth between reality and some kind of fantasy speech though. It’s not a bad thing! It’s just… interesting. Sort of like a more intense version of Mitama or Ophelia. Nina has settled on liking it for now, but she could see it being annoying too if she wasn’t in a good mood. 

“It’s a little overwhelming,” She answers instead. It seems like this place goes on forever, and even though they’ve only made one turn she already feels lost in the halls. Thankfully Odin is there to guide her, and they’re approaching a door that has Leo’s name on a fancy plate. “Like I could get lost forever just looking for the bathroom.” 

“Never fear! I’ll give you a tour. After we’ve met up with Leo, that is. You don’t need to use the bathroom just yet, do you?” Nina shakes her head and tries to hide her smile. Odin is so dumb. She was just making a joke! But thinking about the bathroom is wild. She’d be willing to bet there’s an entire living area in the bathrooms here, with couches and a TV, considering the size of just the hallways. 

He pulls down on the handle and holds the door open for her. The moment she walks inside she thinks  _ this _ is twice as overwhelming as anything she’s seen so far. Odin said that Leo would be in his study but this… this is an entire library. And not the romantic kind like Mitama suggested might be in her parent’s house one day. This is the sort of library you would see in a castle. Books crammed into shelves floor to ceiling, with a ladder to reach the higher shelves. It wraps around an entire wall! 

To one part of the room there is a large, fancy desk. There are plenty of file cabinets lining the wall behind it, but the desk itself has stacks of paperwork and books and two computer screens… who needs all that? Does Leo do that much work? He’s like the richest guy in the world. Why should he even lift a finger?

Leo isn’t at his desk, though. He’s standing near a window, having a conversation with some guy. Nina recognizes Leo, of course, because he’s the one who she nearly ran into the day before. With the pretty hair. Today he’s wearing slacks, a shirt, and even a tie and vest. It seems a little more fancy than necessary in his own home. 

Then again, Odin is wearing similar clothes. Maybe a little less fancy. The man Leo’s talking to is also dressed nicely, but he’s in the middle of turning his sleeves up to his elbows when they walk in. That guy stands out. He’s not quite as tall as Leo but he looks like he could take him in a fight. He’s got some scars on his arms where he’s rolled up his sleeves and an  _ eyepatch _ like he thinks he’s a pirate or something. 

Leo looks up to them, that man turns to face them, and Nina feels shy all of the sudden. They’re both staring at her. She doesn’t belong here where everyone is dressed in fancy clothes and living in a fancy mansion or something. Just that one vest Leo is wearing is no doubt worth more than Nina’s entire life. 

“Oh,” Leo says. He smiles at her. “We met yesterday, didn’t we? What a coincidence. This is the orphan you found, Odin?” 

Odin’s hands settle heavy and reassuring on Nina’s shoulders, where he stands behind her. He squeezes gently and Nina remembers, abruptly, to breathe. “Foster child,” Odin corrects, gently, for her. “Yes. It was a matter of destiny and fate combined that I happened upon the same foster home where she lives, and when we met I knew…” He clears his throat. “Er, I knew she would be a good choice.” 

“Well, I trust your judgement.” Leo nods his head. “I’m Leo, if you remember. Obviously you’ve met my assistant, Odin. This is Niles. He’s something of an escort, something of an assistant… he works closely with me as well.” 

“Like a babysitter,” Odin jokes, soft and so only she can hear. Nina smiles, just a little less nervous. Then Odin speaks up. “Niles,” he says. Nina almost thinks she hears hesitance in his voice, but maybe it’s just her own nerves making things feel like they’re moving in slow motion. Everything is tense for a second, when Odin says “This is Nina.” 

Niles looks at her weird. Nina can tell. He looks at her, for a second, like he’s seen an actual ghost. His hand reaches up to cover his mouth with his fingertips. He looks… sad? She doesn’t know  _ why _ , but he covers it up quickly. Then he just looks at Odin, and they clearly talk in some secret code between the two of them.

All of that must happen in half a second before Niles recovers and he draws his lips into a smile behind his hand. “Pleasure,” He says. 

“Uh,” Nina says, “Yeah. Me too. I guess. So… what am I supposed to be doing here?” Nina looks at Leo, expecting him to give her the answer. Odin said this was a sponsorship but there’s got to be something in it for Leo, right?

Leo is quick to answer. “Today you’ll just spend some time getting settled in and prepared for your stay. Niles and I are working on something now, but Odin can show you around. Niles will join you later.” 

“Niles can’t part ways with you?” Odin asks. He sounds disappointed. He squeezes Nina’s shoulders again, gently. Nina doesn’t say anything, just waits. 

Leo shrugs. “If we rush we may get done in time for him to join you. Go on then; show Nina her room. Oh, and Nina, if you need anything don’t hesitate to ask. You’re here to enjoy yourself just as much as you’re here to prepare for your education.” 

“Okay…” Nina shrugs. “Thanks, I guess.” It’s not that she means to sound ungrateful… she’s just not entirely sure what she’s supposed to be doing here. Plus Niles is still staring at her. It’s weird. It’s like how Odin was staring at her earlier, like she’s got something on her face that makes her look stupid. It makes her  _ feel _ stupid too.

Odin walks with her out of the study and back into the hall. As soon as the door is shut she looks up at him and tries to decide if he’s actually disappointed or not. “So…” she begins, “What do we do first?” 

“Let’s start by getting to your room. You’ll want to see that first, won’t you? I think you’ll like it.” Odin says. If he really was disappointed a minute ago he’s turned around completely now. Nina supposes that’s a good thing, it would be boring to hang out with him if he was just going to mope or something. Or maybe he would be fun even if he was bummed out. He’s been pretty cool so far anyway. 

“I get my own room?” Nina asks, and exactly three seconds after it comes out of her mouth she realizes what a dumb question that is. Of course she gets her own room. This guy probably has like forty bedrooms in this giant house. But her question must spark Odin’s excitement because he nods his head. He holds his hand out to her.

“Are you ready to see a world unlike one you’ve ever known?” He asks. Nina thinks  _ that’s _ a little dramatic… but she likes the flair and so she puts her hand in his and nods her head. 

No sooner has she said “Okay, sure,” Than Odin is  _ running _ . Nina squawks out a startled laugh and runs to keep up with him. She practically has to leap. “Hey!” She shouts, “You have longer legs than I do!” Her protests mean nothing because he doesn’t slow down. He runs with her until they come to the stairs again, and then they take those two at a time. He’s leading her to the left and down a hallway she already feels lost in, and then he abruptly stops and she bumps right into his back. She yelps.

“Well,” He pants, pretending to scold her. “You must be ready for change at any moment! Destiny waits for no one.” 

“Yeah, okay,” Nina puts her hand on his arm and the other on her own knee while she catches her breath. “Are we gonna get in trouble for running around like that?” 

Odin barks out a laugh. “What? By whom? Everyone in this building works under me, Nina. Unless Leo himself were to scold us, but what Leo doesn’t know won’t hurt him.” He puts his hand on the handle and presses down on it, but before the door clicks open Nina thinks to ask another question.

“Niles too? Isn’t he like Leo’s bodyguard?” 

“Even Niles is technically under my supervision. Er--but he tends to follow his own path. And, after all, everyone does report to Leo above all else.” Odin pushes the door open and waits for Nina to step inside.

Nina hasn’t seen a lot of movies in her life but this feels like one. This feels like the scene in a movie where you’re introduced to the princess’s bedroom. The camera spins in a gorgeous circle and there’s magic in the air. Maybe there’s no camera here, but Nina turns in a slow circle in the middle of the room. There’s a bed with a thick canopy against one wall. On either side of it there are tables, one with a lamp and the other empty. There’s a deep, purple rug in the middle of the floor, and it reaches out and nearly touches the ends of the room. At the foot of the bed is a giant chest, one that, upon further inspection, is filled with fluffy pillows and some extra blankets. 

She turns her head and looks to the opposite wall. There is a small table with four chairs, like a whole dining set! A little cupboard with glass doors displaying some plates and cups and a whole tea set. “There’s a mini fridge?!” Nina squeaks. Mini is sort of a strong word, by the time she gets closer she realizes it’s as tall as her waist. It’s a half sized fridge. 

“Should you ever want to keep some snacks close at hand, of course,” Odin says. He tucks his hands into his back pockets. “A microwave as well, but should you need a stove or oven you’ll have to ask Jakob to prepare you something.” 

“Who is Jakob?” 

“One of the butlers, of course.” Odin says matter-of-factly. Nina is still stumbling over the fact that there are really maids and butlers here. 

“Here right now, as it happens,” A man says from the doorway. Nina gasps and turns to face the source of the voice. He’s a tall man with silvery hair in a ponytail tied with a bow. He’s wearing a black waistcoat and slacks and a purple and white shirt to go with it, and he’s got on a cravat. Is that real? Do people still wear those? Nina can’t believe it. 

“Hoy! Jakob!” Odin turns and waves. Nina clears her throat anxiously. She hadn’t even heard him come in! But now that Jakob is here he steps inside and hangs Nina’s backpack on a hook near the door. 

“Just delivering these belongings I fetched from the car. Since I hear you’re talking about me anyway, I suppose I should introduce myself. I am Jakob, I’m head of the wait staff here. Should you need anything at all, young miss, I will see to it myself that you receive only the finest quality of service. It will be my pleasure.”

“Woah,” Nina blurts. “Uh, thanks. Thank you.” 

Odin grins next to her, and he lays his hand back on her shoulder. “No need to be nervous, my dear. Jakob is happy to take care of anything at all for you. Felicia will come in every morning to lay out your clothes, and she’ll make your bed.” 

“Yes,” Jakob answers. “When you wake up in the morning, you’ll press the little call button on the intercom near your bed. Then Flora will bring your breakfast tray up to you. When you’re through just leave it on the bedside table, and someone will be back to take it away.” 

“Woah,” Nina repeats. “Seriously? Breakfast? In bed? Whenever I want?” 

“Anything you like!” Odin promises. Jakob makes a noise and exits, and Nina turns to face Odin again. He’s smiling so bright he may as well be the sun. “Sleep until noon if you need, and Jakob will ensure someone brings you anything you ask. Pancakes? Eggs? Bacon? Cereal? While you’re here we are all truly at your service.” 

“This sounds like a dream.” Nina wanders to a door against the wall and pulls it open. She’s expecting a closet. What she’s not expecting is for an entire house to fit inside of it. “Wh--Look at how big this is! It’s like a whole extra bedroom!” 

“Yes! Lackluster now, seeing how empty it is… but with any luck today we will find time to get you new clothes.” 

“Really? How am I supposed to pay you guys back for all this?” Nina asks again. She knows he said not to, but… seriously? This is the most luxury thing Nina has ever even imagined! Does Soleil live like this now, all the time? It’s crazy! 

“You absolutely may not! This sponsorship is about giving you a leg up in life. Not about creating a debt. Leo anticipated spending money on you! Consider it a gift.” 

“I’m not sure I deserve this nice of a gift, I’m not anything special,” Nina admits. Odin frowns at her, and she finds her smile coming back. “Don’t look so glum. So… what else is in this place? Is there a library too, or just Leo’s study?” 

The library, as it turns out, is bigger than the study. It’s got more than one floor! The upper level is a balcony, it loops around the entire room. There are a couple places where you can take stairs to get up there, and even an elevator! 

“Do you like to read?” Odin asks. “What sort of books? I’ll direct you to them.” 

“Oh, I don’t know. I like fiction mostly. Fantasy and teen romances. That gross stuff. You know, and it makes you feel mushy because it’s so gross and so romantic?” Nina loves that kind of thing. She loves reading something so sappy it makes  _ her _ blush.

Odin’s lips curl into a smile. “Mushy, young adult romantic adventures? I think I know of a few. You’ll find most of them over here.” He leads her towards the back of the library and into a little alcove that crawled right out of one of her daydreams. It’s got huge bean bag chairs and cushions with folded up blankets and a huge window. Like a little reading nook where no one can find you. She can already imagine being curled up next to it when the rain is beating against the window.

“I could actually die,” Nina says. “This place is  _ so cool _ ! Are you sure he’s not interested in adopting? Maybe I’d be interested after all.” 

It’s just a joke though, and thank goodness Odin sees the humor in it. Nina climbs up in front of the window and looks down over the property. She can see from here there’s a hedge maze, and there’s a huge garden. Even with it being winter there are plenty of roses and blue flowers growing. There’s a fence wrapping around the entire property, big stone walls with decorative wrought-iron accents. Then… off to one side there’s a pool, but for some reason it’s still got water in it. 

“Did you guys forget to empty your pool for winter?” 

Odin steps behind her and shakes his head no. Nina turns to look up at him. He’s very handsome, as it happens. He’s got a very defined square jaw and a perfectly clear complexion. His hair is that sunny blonde color… but who would he look good with? So far she can sense that Jakob and he have a business relationship. Those can always turn romantic… Leo and he must be awfully close, to work side by side. Close enough for a scandalous boss-assistant relationship? Then again, he was so disappointed Niles couldn’t join them. Maybe he’s harboring feelings for him?

“No,” Odin says, and Nina snaps out of her thoughts. 

“What?”

“The pool,” Odin explains. “Were you daydreaming? That’s alright. The pool stays filled through the winter. The water and ground around it is heated to the perfect temperature; you won’t feel a chill even if it’s snowing outside! You’re welcome to swim as much as you’d like. We’ll buy you a bathing suit as well if need be.” 

“I don’t know how to swim,” Nina admits.

“We’ll get a coach! No need to fear. If you want to learn you’ll learn.” He steps backwards and Nina finds herself following him out of the library and to the room across the hall from it. This room is definitely a media room. 

It’s huge. It takes Nina a moment to realize there’s a television in it because it  _ literally _ takes up the entire wall. Floor to ceiling! Who needs a TV that big? There are speakers on the walls around it, and a sofa that could actually be the Starship Enterprise. “This is enormous!” Nina gasps. She runs over and jumps on top of the couch. She jumps a few times to mess up the cushions and then falls onto her back on it. “Do you like movies?” 

“Love them,” Odin says. “A good escape from reality is always a well spent opportunity. We’ve got plenty to choose from. They’re all programmed into the television--you won’t have to worry about any discs.” 

Odin crosses the room while he talks. It’s just that his voice is getting further away that has Nina leaning over the back of the round sofa to look at him. He slips across the room where the floor turns into a wooden platform and there is a small stage and a grand piano. 

He plays a few notes and Nina has never been less interested in a floor-to-ceiling television. She fumbles to climb over the back of the couch and rushes to join him. “Oh my god!” She gasps, “You can play piano? Will you teach me? Screw the swimming lessons--I would way rather learn this. I’ve always loved piano music.” 

Odin scoots over just a touch and makes room for her to sit on the bench with him. She watches his fingers move, long, slender, precise. They put just enough pressure on they keys to play a familiar tune. She thinks it must be Mozart but she doesn’t want to guess and be wrong. 

“I would be happy to teach you,” He says. “When I was your age my mother forced me to learn, and my father taught me. She said she always wanted to play, too, but that she didn’t have the right fingers for it. But here, let me see your hand.” 

Nina blinks but holds out her hand for him. He turns it over and he hesitates for a breath. Probably because her birthmark is really weird looking, there on the inside of her wrist. But his hesitation only lasts that long, one tiny, sharp inhale, before he brushes his thumb past her palm. “You have the perfect hands to do anything you like in this world. Piano, violin, painting, you can even sculpt the very stars that hang in the heavens if you like.” 

“You think so..?” Nina has never really had an adult tell her about how much potential she has before. Maybe a teacher here or there, but typically she’s just been trying to survive in school, not trying to show off. 

It’s kind of nice to have someone look at her like she has a future, for once. “You’ll really teach me? Can we have lessons while I’m here? Is there enough time?” 

“We’ll make time for lessons, I promise.” Odin’s promise sounds like law, and Nina nods her head. Then she reaches out and means to play a few notes (not that it would go with his song at all) but she stops. He’s got a gold ring on his hand, on his ring finger, but it’s not on his left hand.

“What is that?” She asks, bluntly. She reaches out and touches it, and Odin stops playing. 

“It’s only my wedding ring,” He says. Nina’s eyes light up. Maybe he’s married to one of the previously mentioned coworkers? “Where I’m from, it’s more common to wear it on the right hand than the left. So I do.” 

“That’s so cool!” Nina exclaims. “Where are you from?” 

“Ylisse,” Odin chuckles. “It’s not that exciting; but I come from a country to the west of Nohr. We share a language so it was easy to move here. I came here for school as a freshman in college and I fell in love.” 

“With… a person, or with Nohr?” 

Odin stands up from the bench and steps over to a set of speakers off to the left. “With both,” He shrugs. “Enough about me, Nina. What sort of music do you like? You’re welcome to use this sound system any time at all. If you prefer you can even bring your library books in here to read.” 

Well that’s just dumb. Nina wants to hear more about Odin so she can figure out his romantic backstory. Instead she slides off the piano bench as well and watches Odin poking around. He’s flipping through digital albums and categories and she stops him when he reaches classical music. She pushes her finger onto the screen and a classic waltz begins. 

Odin raises his eyebrow at her. “You wouldn’t prefer pop or something?” 

“I love classical music,” Nina answers. “It’s soothing, and it’s romantic, and you can read to it or daydream and it’s not muddled up with lyrics to distract you.” 

“I feel the same way!” Odin grins. “I listen to it when I write.” He’s a writer. Of course he is, that’s the most rational thing he’s said all day. He holds out his hands and it takes Nina an entire ten seconds to realize he wants her to dance with him. She’s tempted to say she has no idea how to waltz but she has a feeling he already knows by the time he sweeps her into a dance. 

The music is steady, even, with drawn out crescendos and perfect staccato accents. Their dance? It’s a mess. Nina snorts and then laughs because she’s stumbling all over herself and Odin is refusing to let her get her footing. He just keeps dragging her along with him and making her laugh until she’s breathless. 

All at once he has an arm in the small of her back and she’s falling backward while he dips her. “Woah!” She giggles, “Hey, wait, wo-oah, ahh!” She panics. She’s never been dipped before! She panics and just falls onto the floor. Odin falling with her is funnier. He makes a noise caught between a yelp and a scream and Nina just  _ howls _ with laughter. Laughs so hard she’s crying and Odin joins her. This is the most fun she’s had in like… forever! 

“What,” Comes an amused voice from the doorway, “Might you two be doing?” Nina tries to reel in her laughter when she sees that it’s Niles. He steps into the room and Odin pushes himself onto his knees and then up to his feet. 

“I was dancing,” Odin says, and he reaches out his hand to help Nina to her feet, “I can’t say the same for Nina.” 

“Hey!” As soon as she’s up she reaches up to fix her hair. It’s kind of everywhere now, but she tug a hair band from her wrist into it so she can pull it into a ponytail. 

Odin is straightening his shirt. Niles, swiftly, almost discreetly reaches out and tugs Odin’s sleeve down over his arm. Nina notices… but she can’t say she really finds it suspicious or anything. She’s too busy trying to figure out what Niles even wants. “What are you doing here?” 

“Leo asked me to take you out shopping. We anticipate some press may be involved with your visit. It’s the first time he’s ever taken in a foster child for this charity, after all. He wanted to make sure you looked your best. Of course, you’re welcome to pick out the clothes, and they’re yours to keep.” 

“Okay,” Nina shrugs. “I guess that’s fine.” Who is she to turn down free things? Odin already told her to just embrace it… so she’ll try. “Is Odin coming?” 

Odin’s face falls and he looks at his watch. “Actually, I’ve got to help Leo organize the events with the press that Niles just mentioned. I really do need to get back to him. I’m sorry, baby.” 

_ Baby _ . Nina’s chest clenches. She can’t remember anyone calling her that, not since her parents. Even then she can’t remember their voices more than just a distant daydream. It almost hurts, but she doesn’t get to complain. Instead Odin continues. “I do have something for you before our paths take different branches, though. A gift!” He reaches into the front pocket of his pants and from it pulls out a shiny, brand new,  _ cell phone _ . 

“No  _ way _ ,” Nina says, as he sets it into her hand. It’s not got a case or a screen protector or anything, it’s brand new. But she pushes the button and it lights up, with full bars of service. “Are you being for real?” 

“It’s all yours,” Odin says. “My number is already programmed into it. So is Niles’s and Leo’s, and even Jakob’s. Use it however you like!” He bends at the waist until his mouth is even with Nina’s ear, and he adds in a hush, “If Niles is mean to you, you can always tattle on him to me.” 

When he comes back up he holds his finger over his lips to shush her and Niles makes a skeptical face. It’s fun to hang out with Odin. Nina is already missing him and they’ve barely met! But… she’s sure she’ll see him again soon. He did promise to give her piano lessons, after all.

…

Shopping with Niles, as it turns out, is  _ also _ pretty fun. He takes her to a huge store and once they figure out a guess on her size they go crazy. He picks out some outfits that look ridiculous just to be funny, but he also finds clothes that she loves. She’s never had a wardrobe before. This is crazy! She’s getting jeans and skirts and tights and sweaters and tank tops and dresses… Well, only a couple of dresses. They pick out clothes for what seems like forever, but they’ve been in the dressing room for  _ ages _ .

It’s just her in a stall changing clothes, but there’s a sofa outside of it where Niles is sitting. He’s been watching their things and passing judgment on the outfits. Now they’re trying on dresses… because apparently they’re going to the Mayor’s Christmas Tree Lighting in a few days and  _ that’s _ where they anticipate the most press will be. 

She steps out of the dressing room with a dress on but not properly zipped or tied. There’s so much happening she’s just blown away. “How do I put this on?” She asks. She just holds the front of it in place so she’s decent and Niles stands up to walk closer. In front of a big full length mirror, he tugs the zipper up for her and pulls the ribbons back behind her. 

He’s not like Odin. She’s figured that out. He’s calmer… but his humor is similar to Nina’s. “Like this,” He says, and he fluffs up a big bow in the back. Then he tucks her bangs behind her ear and hums. “Just like a princess. See?” 

“Gross,” Nina says. She spins in a slow circle cranes her neck so she can see the back of the dress. It’s about to her knees, it’s red, fluffy, and she doesn’t know with any certainty that she really looks  _ good _ in it. “Do you like it?” 

“I think it suits you.” Niles answers. “I like it better than the blue one.” 

“I liked the blue one.” Nina mumbles. Niles snickers. 

“You shouldn’t ask for my opinion if you don’t want it. We’ll get them both if that’s what you want.” Something on the dress much catch his attention, because he steps closer and starts fiddling with the back of it a little more. Then he’s fluffing up that bow and turning it, and she realizes he’s fixing the satin so that it’s all on the outside instead of the dull part. 

There’s comfortable silence like that, but Nina has a list of priorities and she’s certainly ready to be nosy. She can easily fill the silence. “What’s your deal with Odin?” She asks. 

Niles raises his brow. “Deal?” He asks in a coo. “Whatever do you mean?”

“Well you were making weird faces at him earlier,” Nina begins. She holds out her hand and counts on her fingers. “Before we left, you were.” 

“Nonsense. That’s just how grown-ups talk to each other.” 

“Telepathically?” 

“Would you put it past Odin?” Niles asks.

Well, no. In the exactly one day that Nina has known Odin she’s confident he can do anything. Magic included. Instead of raising a second finger to make her next point she whirls around to face him and makes a grab for Niles’s hand. “You’ve got a ring on your right hand.” 

“So I do,” Niles hums. “Is that a crime?” 

“Are you two married? Is your last name Bennett too? Are you guys  _ allowed _ to be married? Isn’t it against the rules for your boss to be your husband? Conflict of interest or something?” Nina prattles on and on, the questions piling up, until Niles caves. 

“Odin is not my boss.” Niles rolls his eye. “Leo is. He just thinks he can tell me what to do is all. And he can’t.” 

“Well if he’s your husband he can.” Nina counters. 

“Oh? He’s still not the boss of me.” Niles smiles at her. He turns her around and unties the bow, and then he pulls the zipper of her dress back down. “Put your clothes back on, we should be getting back. We’ll get you both dresses.” 

“Okay,” She says, but she refuses to stop questioning him. While she’s in the changing room she speaks up so she can continue. “You didn’t tell me your name.” 

“Niles Bennett.” 

“Do you guys live in Leo’s mansion?” 

“No, but we spend the better part of our days there.” 

“How long have you been married?” 

“Five years,” Niles answers. 

“When is your anniversary?” 

“Christmas Eve.” 

“ _ Christmas Eve!”  _ Nina gasps. She can’t even imagine! They got married in the winter! “Was it snowing? Was it an outdoor wedding? Did he have snowflakes caught in his hair when you leaned in to kiss him?” 

“Nina,” Niles laughs genuinely this time. It’s really nice, not sarcastic or anything. She likes it. “Why does all that matter?” 

She opens the door back up once she’s dressed. Niles steps inside to help her gather up the pile of clothes they’ve decided on purchasing. “Why wouldn’t it matter? It’s romantic. I’ve got to know.” Nina rolls her eyes this time. She catches Niles smirk. “Please?” 

“Alright, alright. We were married indoors. No snowflakes in his hair, I’m afraid. Just a courthouse wedding and a stroll through the park afterwards.” 

“ _ What _ ?! No big ceremony? No offense, but that doesn’t seem very Odin-y. I think he’s more into big gestures.” 

“So he is. But you know,” Niles says, and he begins to walk away from her. Nina walks with him to keep up, because she knows he’s just trying to get her back to the mansion. It’s getting late, after all, and she’s getting sort of hungry. She hasn’t really eaten much today in all the excitement. (Plus Aversa just didn’t feed her.) Niles continues on to say “I already know all there is to know about myself and Odin. I would so much rather hear about you.” 

“Well,” Nina would hesitate, but she doesn’t. She’s not afraid to talk to Niles. He was honest with her, so why not be honest with him too? “My parents left me on a doorstep when I was a little kid. They left a letter saying they would come back for me but they never did,” She tugs up her sleeve past her wrist and shows Niles the birthmark. His face is a little unreadable in that moment. Like he’s bluffing at cards or something. Nina shrugs. 

“Anyway, I got passed around like a million foster homes. It’s no wonder they can’t find me. But apparently this birthmark runs in our family, and that can’t be  _ that _ common. So hopefully while I’m with you rich weirdos I can do some research and find my family. I  _ know _ my parents are out there.”  

“Mm, I see.” Niles isn’t quite as talkative as Odin… but there’s something soothing about how Niles talks with her. Like he’s actually listening, absorbing every word Nina says, and she trusts him not to forget. 

Nina doesn’t even want to think about how expensive all those clothes are. While she stood beside Niles in like and the woman scanned all those clothes… the numbers went up and up and it was horrible! But by the time they’re in the car and the bags are in the trunk she’s not that worried about it. Instead she’s just watching Niles. He’s handsome too, but in an entirely different way from Odin. In the tall, dark, handsome way with some stubble and he makes the longer hair work without looking ratty. Actually, it looks great. “How do you keep your hair that clean?” She ends up asking.

Mostly because it’s similar to her hair color and she struggles to keep hers from looking dingy all the time. It’s like just a hint of oil ruins it! He’s about to speak up when they pass by a gas station and she gasps. “Hey! Can we stop here?” 

“Er,” Niles says, “Yes,” He leans forward and asks the driver to pull over into the gas station. “What do you need?” 

“You’ll think it’s dumb.” She says. She gets out of the car and drags him with her by his hand into the minimart. When they’re inside she begins wandering until she finds the sweets and, what do you know? Oreos. She picks up two packages of them, and then two jars of peanut butter, and two bottles of milk… and she turns around with an armful of ‘groceries’ to look at Niles. “We have to make one more stop.” 

“Alright,” Niles says, reaching to take the cookies from her. “Some context would be nice, I think.” 

“Can you pick a lock?” Nina asks. Niles’s brow arches higher yet, and she giggles. She doesn’t imagine that gave him any bit of context at all. 

“It depends on who’s asking.” Niles answers. He lays the food on the counter and pays for it. On their way out the door Nina has it all in a plastic grocery bag and she smiles. 

“We have to go back to the foster home.” She knows it’s impulsive. She’s really glad Niles seems to take it in stride. Maybe being around Odin as much as he is granted him more patience? 

On the journey to the foster home Niles manages to ask why she needs him to pick a lock. He seems a little alarmed to hear that her foster-’mom’ chained up the fire escape to keep them inside. She’s worried he may not be able to get it open, but when they get there… He hoists himself up on top of an upturned garbage can.

“This seems dangerous,” Nina mumbles. She can see the can wobbling under him while he stands on his toes to reach for the lock. 

“Don’t try this at home,” Niles mumbles back. He digs a hairpin out of his hair. 

“I don’t have a home. And where… Why do you even have a hairpin in your hair? You don’t have it pulled back or anything!” 

“Sometimes you just need to pick a lock,” Niles answers casually. The trashcan rattles and tips and Nina panics and slams her hands down on top of it so it won’t fall. Niles puffs out his cheeks and then releases a breath. “You said she did this to keep you inside?” 

“Sometimes I sneak out,” She admits. “Or sneak in. It’s a hell hole in there! Ask Odin, he saw it. We basically just live in a closet and there’s not much to do and she barely feeds us and, oh!” She hears the lock click and the chains clatter down onto the ground. Niles grabs onto the ladder and hangs his weight off of it, and just like that it clanks and squeaks down to the ground so that Nina can climb it. 

“Okay,” she says. “I’ll be  _ right _ back.” No sooner is the ladder down than a little girl comes to the window. Nina climbs up with the bag of cookies on her arm, and once she’s at the top Ophelia looks at her with big, wide eyes. 

“Nina!” She gasps. “You got the chain open!” 

“Yeah,” Nina says. She passes the bag to Ophelia. It has one of each of the cookies, milk, and peanut butter packages… and Ophelia looks inside and then back with wider eyes yet. “I brought you these. Be good while I’m gone, okay? And do everything Rhajat and Mitama tell you to.” 

She leans forward and presses a quick kiss to Ophelia’s cheek. No sooner does she than Ophelia promises her to obey. “I swear it! Good luck finding your parents, Nina! I know you will.” 

Nina climbs back down the ladder. When she’s through with it Niles pushes it back up into place. “Who was that?” He asks.

“My little sister,” Nina answers. Niles looks surprised, and so she explains. “We’re not related or anything… but she’s really young. She needs to be taken care of. I don’t know, we’re really close.” 

They walk back towards the car, and the driver pulls open the door for her. Nina crawls inside, and then Niles. “And you take care of her?” 

“I try. This is her first foster home… and she’s special. She has ‘retrograde amnesia’. She got in a car accident with her parents a few months ago, and they died. She can’t even  _ remember _ them. All she knows is she’s alone, now.” 

“I see,” Niles says. He leans forward with his hands folded between his knees, and no seatbelt on yet, but Nina isn’t that surprised. If he was a particularly careful person he probably wouldn’t be a bodyguard. 

“Do you think Leo would let me get Ophelia a phone? How expensive was this thing?” Nina starts to ask. Niles doesn’t get to answer. No one gets to say anything except for the driver, who yelps when, out of seemingly nowhere, a shaggy dog charges into the car and leaps inside.

“Woah,” Niles gasps, but Nina shrieks in delight. 

“Hey! This is the dog I saved the other day! He came back to see me!” 

“Shit,” Niles mumbles. He reaches down and looks at the collar, and then a grin splits his face. “Look at that. You found Doug. Where’ve you been anyway? Odin was worried sick.” 

“Wait. Is this  _ your _ dog?” Nina asks. She can’t believe it! That means he can come home with them, right? Definitely. The driver shuts the door (skeptical, no doubt) but soon they’re on their way and the dog is settled between them. The dog whose name is apparently  _ Doug _ . “Doug is a stupid name for a dog.” 

“Well you can take that up with Odin. It’s his dog; he named him.” Niles sits back and finally buckles his seatbelt. 

“Odin named a dog  _ Doug _ ? Just Doug? Nothing exciting?” 

“Sir Douglas, the Hero Dog, actually. That’s his, uh, full name. Or title I guess..” Niles smirks. Nina nods her head. 

“ _ That _ sounds more like Odin.” 

“Oh? You sound like you’ve known him your whole life.” 

“No, just a few hours,” Nina admits, “But I can already tell he’s extra as hell.” She pulls Doug close to her and lays her cheek on top of his head to cuddle. He’s such a good dog… but he kind of smells like he needs a bath. “Sir Douglas, the Hero Dog… Hm. I think I’m gonna like it here, Doug.” 

Niles chuckles, but he doesn’t argue with her one bit.


	5. You're Never Fully Dressed Without A Smile

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nina and her friends go to a Christmas Tree Lighting event!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> warning: i didn't edit this AT ALL you're welcome for the typos. also it's twice as long as other chapters rip

Leo’s study is less intimidating the more time Nina spends seated inside of it. Although the last two days has been a blur of spending time with Odin and Niles and learning the house, she’s glad to be here with Leo, too. Having some quiet time in his study really helps her sort through her thoughts. Plus isn’t Leo the one she’s supposed to be here to see anyway? He’s always so busy it’s like he doesn’t even have the time to spend with her. Surely he could delegate some of that work, right? 

Then again, if he delegated it to Odin or Niles she wouldn’t get to hang out with  _ them _ as much, and they’re kind of her favorite people right now. They’re fun! They’re fun individually but, as Nina quickly learned, they’re twice as fun when they’re  _ together _ . They’re so cute! They hold hands sometimes, and she’s seen Odin kiss Niles on his cheek to say hello or goodbye, and even if they weren’t  _ adorable _ and mushy they’re also just funny because they bicker twice as much as they make goo goo eyes. Bicker in a good way. Like they’ve been married for years and years and they always end up laughing at each other. 

Considering she’s only known them for a grand total of two days, she has to say she has a pretty good grasp on them. Their present anyway. She doesn’t know their entire life stories or anything like that. Leo on the other hand… She feels like he’s still a perfect stranger. “Odin said you’re married and have kids. Where are they?” 

Leo lifts his head up from his work for probably the first time since Odin came in with his coffee. He popped in about an hour ago and he brought Nina a cup of steamy cocoa too. She was almost tempted to go hang out with him, then. He’s just working at his desk for once. Catching up on all those work-y things he’s missed because he’s spent two days getting her accustomed to this house and running errands with Niles to make sure she’s ‘properly’ taken care of. (She’s being spoiled, but it’s the first time in her whole life she ever has been and so she’s afraid to point it out.)

“Actually,” Leo answers, “They’re out of the country. They went to visit Takumi’s family in Hoshido for a couple of weeks. They’ll be back on tuesday.” 

It’s sunday now, so Nina supposes that’s exciting. She can’t wait to meet them! And it gives her a great opportunity to  _ talk _ to Leo about something instead of just watching him tap tap away on his keyboard. “So..? Tell me about them!” She slides off of her seat and wanders closer to his desk, where she’s spied a few framed photos. One of them, sure enough, appears to be his little family of four. “Do your kids live here all the  _ time _ ? Are they spoiled?” 

Leo snorts and Nina thinks that must be some indicator that she’s successful. “Maybe a little, but they’re well behaved if that’s what you’re asking.” He leans back in his chair, away from his work altogether. Success! Nina grins and picks up the photo. She keeps it close to her chest (there is no way in a burning fiery  _ hell _ that she is going to drop one of his probably thousand-dollar photographs) and she walks around his desk to stand beside his chair. She shows it to him. He looks at her skeptically. She waits. “Alright, alright,” He says. He points to the photo.

“This is Takumi. We’ve been married for fifteen years.” 

“ _ Fifteen?!”  _ Nina gasps. She looks at Leo again more thoroughly. Fifteen years married implies he’s older than he looks. Actually, she guesses that makes sense. He seems close in age with Odin and Niles, but she could  _ tell _ they were in their mid-thirties. It’s okay--they’re both cute. They look… distinguished. Well, not even that. They look great! And they act like children, considering how they talk to each other. 

“Fifteen. We met in Hoshido when I traveled there on business. He’s very smart; maybe smarter than I am.” 

“That sounds fake.” Leo laughs this time, and Nina breathes out a mental sigh of relief because at least he  _ can _ laugh. She points to the older child. “What about her?” 

“He,” Leo corrects, still smiling. “Although the way he dresses can be confusing now or then Forrest is by all means male.”

_ That _ sounds fake. Nina pulls the photo closer to inspect. He’s got curls and pink clothes and she supposes if she squints he might look a little boyish. “Why does he dress that way? He looks good in it, I mean, but…?” 

“Since he was young Forrest has been very interested in designing clothing. He takes more of an interest in women’s fashion right now. We do our best to encourage him.” He looks proud. Nina’s smile widens. Some people would be really bothered by that, and hey maybe it was a struggle for Leo at first, but right now he seems very proud of his little boy fashion designer. 

“Wait, so did he make those outfits?” She asks.

“He designed them, yes. He’s still learning to sew himself, but we have a tailor who regularly visits and teaches him. He’s got an aunt overseas who designs clothes as well. He was more than a little excited to visit her.” 

“Woah.” That’s so cool! Nina thinks designing clothes could be fun, but actually  _ making them _ would be hard work. She looks at the only person left in the photo. This one is definitely a boy and just a little younger than Forrest. 

Leo follows her train of thought. “That’s Kiragi. He’s highly energetic and overly imaginative. In a good way. Almost like Odin, but with a less colorful vocabulary. He enjoys sports. He’s very competitive; if you ask I’m sure he’ll play anything you ask with you. Right now he’s been focusing on tennis.” 

“Do you have a tennis court somewhere in this place?” Nina asks. She hasn’t seen the whole thing yet. Every day Odin shows her a little more and she thinks it’s actually all moving. Changing around and switching positions every time she turns a corner or opens a door, that is. Odin never seems to get lost though, just her. 

“In the rear,” Leo answers. “If you’re interested in learning Niles can teach you. He’s played against me for years. It may not be the true point of your being here, but enjoying the luxuries we can provide you is also our gift to you.” 

“So what  _ is _ the point of me being here?” She asks. This seems to be as good a time as any to really find out. “What’s the point of this charity? What do you get out of it, huh?” 

“Truthfully it’s just what it sounds like.” Leo shifts one knee over the other and sits more comfortably in his chair. Nina leans against his desk and folds her arms while they talk. The photograph is tucked back into place safe and sound. “It’s a charity. I do get a certain amount of publicity from it, but a man isn’t as rich as I am without his fair share of publicity anyway. This isn’t about me, it’s about you. I’ve been given a lot in this life. It seems reasonable to share it.” 

“I guess,” Nina says. “It’s better than being a selfish rich guy… but I still don’t get what I’m supposed to  _ get _ out of this.” Not what she’s going to end up owning. Odin already made it clear that the wardrobe and phone they bought for her are hers forever. She doesn’t know what she’s supposed to take away from this as a lesson or whatever.

“The point of this is to give you a head start in life, Nina. You haven’t been given all of the opportunities I have by birth, and so I want to give you one myself. You’ll only be with me here for a short while, but even when you leave I’ll still be on your side. You’ll have a scholarship put into our name, waiting for you when you’re ready to go off to college, for example.” 

“You think I can go to college?” Nina asks, skeptically. She never considered it. It’s not required public schooling and so the government doesn’t have to pay for her to attend, technically. 

“I’m quite certain you can. You seem like a smart girl. If all you need is some financial help to get you where you want to be, then I will see to it you receive it.” Leo answers. Nina is… touched. He thinks she’s smart? She barely thinks that. She thinks she’s barely floating by. But maybe if she did have more access to resources she would have better grades. After all, it’s not like she’s ever had a chance to write an essay on a computer at home.

“Can I tell you a secret? What I want, more than anything, doesn’t have to do with school at all.” She combs her fingers through her hair and separates it, slowly but surely beginning to work it into two braids down her shoulders. “So… just how rich  _ are _ you anyway?”

Leo raises his perfectly manicured eyebrow at her. “Pretty rich.” He answers. “What is it that you want more than anything?” 

“I don’t know if money can buy it,” Nina says softer. “But I’m looking for my parents. My birth parents. When I was left they gave me a note saying they would come back for me, and I know they wanted to. I know they’re out there, still looking for me… I just want to find them again.” 

Leo is quiet for a breath. Nina continues. “No one will give me access to my public records because Miss Aversa won’t consent to it, and I’m not even sixteen. It’s not fair, and I just… I  _ know _ that if I knew their names I could track them down. Everyone has facebook or whatever, you know? But the only thing I have to go off of is my Social.” 

“I see.” Leo’s expression turns a little darker. “Well… we should start with that information. As your temporary guardian, I believe  _ I _ can get you those forms. It may take me a little time, though. In the meantime I will ask Niles to look into it. He’s the best there is at digging up dirt on people. If your parents are out there, he’ll find them.” 

“Do you mean it?” Nina asks. “Please? You don’t have to buy me anything else; you don’t even have to  _ feed me _ , if you can find my parents I’ll never ask for anything else in my entire  _ life _ !” 

“I don’t know about that,” Leo smiles, “We’ll still be taking care of you. I can’t promise we’ll find your parents, but I’ll certainly try. Even if I have to put out a reward for it. If this is how I can help you get your leg up in life, it’s what we’ll do.” 

“Knock, knock,” Odin says from the doorway. He also actually knocks, but his voice comes first. Nina turns to look at the door and it turns out Niles is there too, they’re both positioned in the doorway. 

He says, “It’s time to go, kiddo. We have plans.” 

“We do?” Nina asks. Leo nods his head at her.

“They’re going to take you out skating and to enjoy some local events before the Mayor’s Christmas Tree Lighting later today. I’ll see you again at the event tonight, but I’ve got some work to finish up before that.” 

Not even a whole breath later Nina throws her arms tight around Leo’s shoulders to hug him. “Thank you,” She says. About him helping her find her parents! Not about the silly tree. But she steps away from him then and rushes over to Niles and Odin. Odin holds out his hand and she takes it in hers easily. She’s not really young enough to want to hold hands with a grown up but… she doesn’t mind holding his hand. He did basically ask.

Once they’re out in the hall she looks up between the two of them. “So,” She begins, “We’re going ice skating?” 

“Ice skating, on a tour of some lights in the park, there’s food trucks and cocoa, even santa.” Odin answers. 

“Santa?!” Nina asks. She stops walking. Odin stops too, but Niles is the one who looks at her like she’s crazy. “We have to go get Ophelia.” 

“I don’t know about that,” Niles begins. Odin looks worried too. Yeah, no doubt! Nina is asking them to sneak out her friends to take to go skating and to see Santa. 

“Please? She’s so little still and she’s never seen Santa in her whole  _ life _ and she still believes in him!” Maybe she’s seen Santa before, when she had her memories but… she doesn’t now. She has no memories of anything before her accident. 

“Nina,” Niles tries to scold her or something. It’s wild. His voice is pretty stern, she almost accepts it as law. “It wouldn’t be easy to sneak out  _ children.  _ And Leo could get into trouble, not to mention  _ us _ .” 

“Please?” Odin asks. Odin! He looks at Niles with the same sympathy in his eyes that Nina has. “A little girl who needs magic in her life! We can pull it off. Please?” 

Niles rolls his eye. “Fine, fine. You’ll both be the death of me.” 

Nina gasps and pulls her hand from Odin’s to clap hers together. “Really? Thank you! Thank you thank you thank you!” 

“Don’t thank me yet,” Niles mumbles. “We can still get caught, after all.” 

“He won’t get caught,” Odin assures her. “This will be an evening of holiday magic for all! Beginning with a trip to our house, however. Niles and I need to change clothes.” 

Nina plucks at Odin’s sleeve. He’s wearing a dress shirt and slacks again. With a vest. They both tend to wear that every day. “What, you don’t like this stiff stuff?” she asks.

“Not by a mile! When traveling out in the snow to skate and enjoy the frills of winter? Ha! You’ll find me in a sweater, not a shirt and tie.” He wraps his arm around Nina’s shoulders while they walk, and Nina thinks she likes that best. It was weird the first time, but now it’s easy. Odin feels like family when he does that.

“Can I come inside too and see Doug?” Nina asks. Niles makes a noise close to a chuckle. 

“Well we weren’t going to make you sit in the cold car.” 

…

Odin and Niles’s house is something right out of a fantasy. It’s not a mansion like Leo’s, it’s just a house. But it’s gorgeous. Like it was plucked right off the cover of a romance novel! They pull into a drive and Nina practically leaps out of her seat to get a better look. Under her feat the drive and the pathway leading from it are stone, hand laid it looks like but maybe not. The path is lined with little patches of flowers that almost look like daisies but they’re blooming even in the winter. They’re light blue and she doesn’t know what they are. It barely matters.

Their house has two floors but even from here she can tell it’s gorgeous on the inside. The outside is! The porch wraps around the side of it and there is a cute little fence wrapped around the building. Niles guides her forward with an arm around her and opens the way for her to walk up the path and to the front door. “This is so cute,” She says. He chuckles at her and he opens the door. 

The first thing she sees is the staircase to the left, leading up to the upper part of the house. The foyer has an entryway table with a vase of fresh flowers and a bowl with a set of keys, a handful of coins, and a wrapped candy or two. It must be where they typically empty their pockets. To the right there’s a little office, she can see through the doorway. In front of her is an archway that leads into a sitting room. Niles and Odin follow behind her and Odin tugs the door shut. 

“Welcome!” He says. As soon as the door clicks shut Sir Douglas’s fat paws pad down the stairs and he meets them at the door. He jumps and Niles makes a noise at him, but then he sits down by their feet and waits patiently to be pet. 

He’s just such a good boy. Nina crouches to give him all the scratches he could want. “We don’t have time to give you a tour this time,” Niles says, “But try not to get lost. We’re going to go change.” 

“I don’t think I can get lost here,” Nina answers. It’s not a mansion! It’s just a standard home. She stands up and wanders off, though, taking that as permission to explore just a little. Niles and Odin both climb the stairs, Odin first. He’s walking until Niles pinches his thigh, then he barks out a shocked laugh and he runs the next few steps. They disappear. 

The sitting room she saw before looks cozy. There’s a sofa and an armchair and a big rug on the floor. It’s in front of a fireplace, and it’s almost like something she imagines a ski lodge would look like. A big fuzzy rug in front of a roaring fire… big windows to watch the snow come down outside… She thinks about sitting down on the sofa and waiting for them there, but she wonders what else is upstairs. She’s sure the office is just an office. That’s boring. That can wait. Surely there’s a kitchen or dining or bathroom somewhere in this place, but she’s not that worried and not hungry at all. Do they have guest rooms? An upstairs office? Surely there’s more than one room in the upper floor of this house.

She walks up the stairs. One of them creaks. She heard it creak when they walked up too. It’s not a scary creak, but definitely a ‘you-could-never-sneak-past-this-stair’ creak. They probably heard it. She doesn’t worry.

When she gets up the stairs she can see that there’s a room at the end of the hall with the light on under the door. That must be their room, and as much as she’d like to spy on them to find out if they’re  _ really _ just changing clothes and not canoodling or something… she turns to look at the other three doors. The first one is a bathroom, it clicks open and she looks around. It’s not huge but it’s got a nice sized closet with towels folded neatly. There aren’t really any signs of life in this room… so they must have a bathroom in their bedroom. This must be for guests. So those other rooms are probably guest rooms. 

Worth snooping, anyway! She crosses the hallway to the opposite room. This room is definitely a guest room. It’s relatively empty but it has a bed and a dresser and an end table. It’s got one painting on the wall of a cottage with flowers around it, which is kind of adorable considering they’re definitely  _ in _ a cottage with flowers around it. But it’s not a painting of this house. 

Doug makes a noise beside her and she smiles at him. “Is this your room?” She teases. She would bet money that he sleeps with Odin and Niles. He probably takes up half the bed. She closes the door and looks at the last door in the hall. It’s closer to Odin and Niles’s room, but still probably just another spare. When she opens  _ that _ door, she’s a little baffled.

This room is still a little empty, but it’s furnished differently. The bed isn’t just pushed off to the side and empty. It’s got a white bedspread on it that has green vines and flowers embroidered into it. There are several pillows propped up on the bed and it has a  _ canopy _ . It’s just a thin one, made of mesh but it hangs down over the whole top half of the bed. There are lights woven into it and Nina doesn’t waste any time wandering closer to see if they work. 

They do. “Woah,” she mumbles out loud. She turns around. There’s a desk in one corner but not a lot on it. Just a few minor bits of supplies. This room has a closet but also a long dresser with a vanity on it. It’s nothing wildly fancy, but it makes it feel less like a guest room and more like a room someone might live in. She walks over and tugs the dresser open, though, and finds that it’s entirely empty. 

To one side of the room there is the window of her  _ dreams _ . It’s absolutely gorgeous. A big window with a seat in it, and the seat even has a cushion that matches the quilt on the bed! It has round, pink cushions on it too and she can’t believe it. She’s jealous! She likes the room at Leo’s, of course, but that’s over the top. Staying at Leo’s house is like staying in a crazy hotel. This feels like it could be a real room she could really live in. 

Well, not her, but someone. This is someone’s room. She wanders back to the bed and flops down on top of it. Doug jumps up with her and he lays his head down on her legs. The bed isn’t as overly soft as Leo’s is, but she thinks it’s still nice enough that she could fall asleep if she tried. 

“This is just adorable,” she mutters to him. She drops her arms above her head, tucks them under the pillow to pull it closer… and her hand hits something. “Huh?” She shifts onto her elbow so she can tug the something out from under the pillow.

It’s a yellow notebook. It’s kind of garbage to look at. The front of the cover has a big white crease where it’s been folded in half (maybe to fit into a backpack) several times in its life. The binding is bent up and out of shape and the pages feel fat and are a little yellowed, she can tell before she even opens it. This thing is old as hell. It’s a brand she recognizes from school but the logo is different now. 

On the front there’s handwriting. In faded marker that is almost too light to read, it is labeled “The Manual of Justice.” Reading that makes her chest feel tighter. Not because of the title, she doesn’t know what that could be. But it’s the handwriting. It’s eerie how she feels like she’s seen it before. She traces her finger over the curves of it. 

She knows she’s seen that handwriting before. She’s just using her thumb to open up the first page when she hears Niles from the doorway have what sounds like a small heart attack. “Don’t touch that!” 

Nina gasps and drops it into her lap. He walks closer. He doesn’t look  _ mad _ . He looks scared. Like he thought she might hurt it. He walks closer and takes it from her. He inspects it, but then he sighs and sets it on the desk behind him. 

“I’m sorry,” Nina blurts. “I didn’t know I wasn’t supposed to be in here, I’m sorry.”

Niles pushes his hand through his hair. He did change clothes, after all. Well, that’s what he came here for. He’s got dark grey jeans now and a shirt a sort of even darker purple. There’s some gold on it here or there, and he’s got a blue jacket on. Probably because he was preparing to leave, not to lecture her. But he doesn’t lecture her. He just sighs again. This time softer. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to shout. I’m not mad at you, Nina, that’s just… a very important book.” 

“What  _ is it _ ?” She asks. Niles shakes his head no. He sits on the bed with her and Nina pets Doug’s head absently, unsure what to say. He obviously doesn’t want to tell her what it is, and she can’t  _ make him _ . 

“It belonged to someone very special.” Niles doesn’t say anything else. He pets Doug too. “Odin is almost ready. Leo called and needed some quick help, but he’s changing now.” 

“This room is cool.” Nina tries to smooth over the wound. She lays back down on the pillow and looks up at the twinkling lights in the canopy. Like fairies fluttering above them. Niles shifts to lay down, too, to her surprise, before he’s on the pillow next to her. There’s just enough room between them for Doug, but he doesn’t walk up between them. He settles by Niles’s ankles. 

“It’s just a spare.” Niles says, but it sounds like a lie. Nina can tell! This room must be special for it to be so much more decorated by comparison. Maybe they’re saving it for someone. Maybe they’re going to adopt a baby someday? Maybe they’re on a waiting list. “Leo told me you want him to find your parents.” 

“He said you could help,” Nina answers. “Do you think it’s possible?”

“Anything is possible,” Niles answers. He looks at her briefly. She can feel him looking at her, but she keeps her eyes up towards those fairy lights. He looks away. “Will you forgive them? When you see them again.”

“There’s not really anything to forgive,” Nina answers. She’s thought about this a lot! Sure, her parents abandoned her, but… “They put me into foster care because they needed help taking care of me. They had a good reason, I’m sure of it. And they wanted me back! They said they would come back for me. It’s not their fault I got passed around through so many homes. It’s not even their fault that they haven’t found me yet; They don’t even know my Social. It was never going to be easy for them to find me. That’s why I need to go find them.” 

She rolls onto her side and scoots a little closer to Niles. He’s not mean, she knows he didn’t mean to yell at her like that. She’ll find out more about that journal later, maybe. When it’s less sensitive. For now she just smiles when he turns on his side towards her and lets her scoot closer. Odin and Niles are both affectionate.... And she’s not sure they get paid to be, but she’s glad. They treat her like family, even though she’s not… and Nina, admittedly, is beginning to miss having Ophelia cling to her all night. 

So when Niles lays his arm over her like he’s keeping her safe, Nina closes her eyes and sighs. “Do you think they still want me back?” 

“You just said yourself they’re looking for you,” Niles mumbles. “Why shouldn’t they want you back?” 

“Because I’m all grown up.” Nina knows that Rhajat doesn’t mean to terrify them when she mentions that no one wants to adopt a teenager, but… well she’s not wrong. A teenager has already grown up. They already have a way of doing things and a personality and it’s easier to adopt a little kid you can grow and shape into your own. 

“You’re still just a kid, Nina,” Niles answers. He plays with the end of her braid while he talks, fiddles with it with his thumb. She rolls her eyes and pretends she doesn’t kind of like having the attention. Niles and Odin… they’re so comfortable to be around. Like… maybe if she couldn’t have  _ her _ parents, they wouldn’t be so bad. Not that she’s ready to give up on her parents. 

“I’m in high school.” 

“Barely,” Niles argues. “Since you asked me, I think your parents are looking for you every day. I think they’ve spent the last ten years scouring through legal files, looking for any hint out there, dreaming of the day you were back in their arms.”

He’s not even done talking before Nina hiccups and nuzzles her cheek down into Niles’s shoulder. How dare he say that? He makes her cry like that, telling her how much her parents love and miss her. It’s everything she’s ever wanted in life, and it sounds like a dream. The he squeezes her tighter until she’s hugged close to him and her tears are smothered by his shirt. 

“You’ll be home soon.” He says. 

Nina scoots away from him just enough to rub her eyes. “Leo told you he’s going to help me find them?” She asks. Niles hums a gentle yes, but he doesn’t get to say much more.

Instead Odin knocks on the doorway. “Nina, Niles? Are you two alright?” He’s got a sweater just like he promised he would, wrapped up in yellow with cable knit designs. He’s got two scarves draped over his neck, and he just looks concerned. Nina sits up and rubs her eyes. “You’re crying?” 

“I’m not!” She clears her throat. “I’m fine. Niles is just dumb.” 

“Yes,” Odin agrees, “He can be.” 

For a moment he looks like he might be frustrated. Maybe he thinks Niles upset her? She’s not mad at Niles. She’s also ready to go. “Can we go get my friends now?” she asks. 

Odin nods at her. “Yes, of course! Here, I found an extra scarf for you.” He steps closer to the bed. Nina jumps up and takes the scarf from him easily. He wraps it around her and then he gives her a hug around her shoulders. After that he extends a hand to Niles who grunts like an old man when he stands up. It makes Nina laugh. He’s not  _ that _ old. 

She’s not sure how she feels. Leaving this house feels like leaving a dream world. Like she’s close to something and she’s not sure what it is. Like there’s something more she’s supposed to do, but it slips through her fingers and it’s forgotten as soon as she says goodbye to Doug and situates herself in the back of the car. 

…

Ophelia is the last of the girls to climb down the ladder. She’s always been nervous about it, but Nina is at the bottom with her arms open and as soon as she settles her feet on the ground Nina hugs her tight. “We’re going to have so much fun!” She promises. 

“You’re just lucky the witch drank herself out cold,” Rhajat mumbles. She’s wrapped up in a jacket. They all really just have jackets, but they’re okay. They’re dressed in layers. They’ve been around the block before; winter is never easy. 

“Where are we going?” Ophelia asks. The moment she steps out of the hug she bumps into Niles. He smiles at her, but he gestures to the car. 

“We’re going to the city park. Come on, girls. In the car, chop-chop. It’s cold out here and we need to get going so we make it on time.” Odin opens the door for them and Nina is the first to crawl in. She’s so excited! As soon as her friends are situated she opens up one of the compartments in the car to reveal candies and snacks, and Ophelia gasps. 

“It’s amazing!” She says. Nina giggles. “Take some! It’s all for us, okay? When you guys go home you can have anything to take with you.” 

“Really?” Mitama asks. She reaches forward and plucks a chocolate bar from the compartment. Nina nods her head yes. Niles crawls in after them, and so does Odin. Or, at least, he starts to.

Before he gets all the way in a voice shouts “Wait!” 

It doesn’t sound like Aversa. Odin knows her voice. Instead it sounds like a younger girl, and when he turns she pushes herself into the car. Nina startles. “Soleil!?” She asks. She situates herself and buckles, and Odin must accept his fate because he crawls into the seat and pulls the car door shut. Nina watches him share a glance with Niles, and then a grin. Probably because of how loud the car is, suddenly, with five girls in it with them. 

“Nina!” Soleil gasps. She shifts until she’s where Ophelia is sitting, and then she sits down on the other side of her so that she’s got her arm draped around her shoulder. Ophelia’s, that is, because Nina is seated all the way by the other door. “What happened? There was a lock on the door and then you were just gone?” 

“ _ I  _  was just gone? You were gone! We were walking and I was in my hour of  _ need _ and you totally bailed on me! Not even a goodbye!” Nina scoffs. “That was pretty shitty.” 

“I know but my  _ uncle _ was  _ right there _ , and…” She stops. Nina is about to ask her what she’s talking about when suddenly it clicks in her head where she’s heard the last name Vigarde before. 

“Oh!” Nina gasps. “Leo is your step-dad’s brother!” 

“ _ That’s _ where I recognize you.” Niles hums. “You’re Laslow’s girl, aren’t you?” 

“Does he know you’re here?” Odin asks.

“Are you Leo’s guys?” Soleil counters the question with another and Nina actually finds herself laughing. She’s the only one it all makes sense to, now, and she shakes her head. 

“Okay, guys, hang on. I figured it all out. Soleil; Leo took me in as a foster kid for the holiday. Odin, Niles, Soleil never tells her dad where she is  _ ever _ because she doesn’t want him to worry.” She settles back into the seat and Ophelia passes her a chewy candy. 

“Well you’re going to tell him now,” Odin says. “Laslow worries about you all the time anyway. I’ve only known him for a year and you’re the only person he ever talks about. You need to tell him you’re with us and we’re taking you to the tree lighting.” 

“Aw,” Soleil says, “That’s so cute. He talks about me at work?” 

“Now.” Odin mumbles. “I may be willing to sneak these girls around but I am not going to mess with kidnapping the mayor’s daughter. Even if Laslow didn’t have my head, Xander would.” 

“Okay! Okay, okay, I’m texting him.” Soleil pulls out her phone. For what it’s worth, it does look like she’s texting someone. Nina sighs. 

“You know,” She says, “Your uncle got me a phone.” Soleil’s eyes light up. For a second Nina thinks her pupils even turn into hearts. “I guess I could text you my number.” 

“Gross.” Rhajat mumbles. But she’s snacking on a chocolate bar and Mitama giggles from beside her. 

When they arrive at the park the first thing Odin does is guide them to the frozen pond. It’s long frozen, turned into a rink as it is every year. There are people skating on it already, and lights strung in the trees that surround it. There’s a booth not far renting out skates and while Odin and Niles get skates for everyone, Nina takes a moment to actually look at Soleil. 

She’s really cute. She’s got a short dress on with tights. It’s a white skirt and white boots and even though she’s wearing a coat it’s a longer, military style coat so it buttons up snug to her body and looks like it’s part of the outfit. It’s dark black like her tights and so are her gloves. It’s not really like Soleil to look so put together. She’s got a knit headband wrapped around her ears and her hair is spilling out in curls that had to have been done with an iron. They’re already starting to fall out; her hair is hard to style. Nina should know, she’s tried before. 

“Why are you dressed up so much?” She asks. Soleil looks down at herself and then twirls in a circle to show off. 

“The lighting, duh. This year is the first Christmas since my parents got married, really. So we’re going to be up on stage with him when he lights the tree up, like a family. Don’t you think that’s adorable?” 

“Yeah, actually.” Nina smiles. She notices Ophelia struggling to put on the skates that Odin brought over for her, so she settles into a crouch in front of her to help her lace them. “Don’t you think Soleil looks pretty today, Ophelia?” She asks. 

Ophelia thinks it over for less than a second. “You look astonishing! Even the stars pale by comparison!” While she talks Nina takes the scarf that Odin gave her and pulls it off of her own neck to wrap around Ophelia’s. She lights up and throws her arms around Nina’s shoulders. “Thank you!” 

“Ophelia!” Mitama giggles beside her. “Will you skate with me? I’d be happy to teach you how!” She holds out her hand and Ophelia eagerly takes it. She can already tell this was a good idea. Bringing her friends with her was the best choice she’s made all day. So she takes a seat on the bench where Ophelia was and begins to change out of her boots and into her skates. That’s when she notices Soleil… isn’t. 

“Aren’t you going to skate?” She asks. Soleil plops down on the bench beside her. Without hesitation she drops her arm around Nina’s shoulder, around the bench behind her. 

“Babe,” Soleil says, “I’m awful at it. I can’t stay up on my own I’d have to cling to you the whole time, and even though  _ I’d _ like that… I know you might actually want to skate instead of just hold me up.” 

“What?  _ Seriously _ ?” Nina rolls her eyes. “Put on some damn skates. I’m not going to just leave you over here to sit and watch.” 

“But--” 

“Come on! Please? I promise not to let you fall, dummy.” She reaches down to tie the laces on her own skates and she’s pleased to see Soleil give in. “It’s been weird not talking to you. I guess it’s only been a few days, but… well. Yeah.” 

“Aw,” Soleil flashes Nina a smile that would make her weak in the knees if she wasn’t sitting down. “I missed you too. I didn’t mean to bail on you for so long. I went looking for you later but your fire escape was chained up.” 

“I know.” Nina shrugs. “It doesn’t matter; I wasn’t there anyway.” 

She stands up. Her balance is wobbly on the blades at first, but she gets over it after a few steps. Once she’s actually  _ on _ the ice she has to get her bearings quickly. She’s never done this before, but apparently her best friend is relying on her to keep them both from falling. Right? It’s not too bad, though. She takes steps that turn into glides, and she gets the hang of it in no time. 

“You know,” She says to Soleil when she’s finally ready to step on the ice as well. “This isn’t so hard. I bet you can actually do it.” 

Soleil’s hands are warm when she wraps them around Nina’s. She can feel it all the way through her gloves. Nina looks up and then, cautiously, pulls her onto the ice. Soleil slides closer, glides until they’re a little closer than Nina intended. Their noses are almost touching and suddenly it’s not just Soleil’s hands that are warm, but Nina’s face. She clears her throat because it feels tight suddenly.

Is Soleil really still her best friend? Maybe she’s more than that, and Nina just… missed it when she was so busy looking for her parents. “I’m sorry I ran off and left you alone,” Soleil says to her while they’re close like that. She can feel that Soleil is unsteady on her feet. She can feel Soleil gripping at the sleeves of Nina’s coat to keep herself from slipping. Her feet are turned out and, as a result, they spin a little. “I know you were having a bad day.” 

Nina tries to shift her feet to stop that. “It’s not like you had much choice,” Nina mumbles back. “I’m not mad. Just maybe don’t run away next time I need you, okay?” 

“Never again,” Soleil says. She shifts so that she’s wrapped around just one of Nina’s arms, and then gradually they step. One after another, with Nina watching her and keeping their pace slow, they begin to move. A step and a glide until they’re circling the middle of the lake, slow and steady. “If you need me I’ll be your knight in shining armor, just like when we were kids okay?” 

Nina rolls her eyes, but it makes her happy. She raises her opposite hand to pat Soleil where she’s holding her arm. “I’m not delicate or something,” she says. 

“So,” Soleil goes on, “Do you like hanging out with Leo?” 

“Well,” Nina says, “I like Leo just fine. He promised to put out a reward to find my parents! But other than that I haven’t spent that much time with him. I’ve been with Niles and Odin the last two days.” 

“Odin is pretty neat. He’s been to our house a couple times. He gets along really well with my dad. I think they knew each other when they were kids, but lost touch.” Soleil must be getting brave because she reaches up to move some of her hair off of her shoulder. “Niles came over once too, for dinner. He’s funny.” 

“They’ve been really cool,” Nina admits. “I really love them; it’s like when you meet a puppy for the first time and you just fall in love with it? But with people. Is that weird?” 

“Yeah.” 

“Hey!” 

Soleil laughs. “Sorry, babe! I didn’t know you wanted me to lie. Okay, ask me again. It’s not weird at all! It’s totally normal to fall in love with two grown up men.”

“I’m not in love with them,” Nina grumbles. “I just  _ love _ them. It’s different.” 

“Like how you love family?” Soleil asks. “They’re pretty cool, but… what happens when you find your parents?” 

“Maybe I can still keep in touch.” 

Nina doesn’t know what will happen when she finds her parents, but it feels like it’s more real than ever. She’s sure Leo can find them with his money, but knowing Niles is going to help her find them too is more reassuring than that. Knowing that Odin and Niles are on her side all the time, and they want to help her… It makes her feel warm, even in the cold. Sort of like Soleil. 

“Me too,” Soleil says, interrupting her thoughts. “Don’t forget to keep in touch with me too.” 

“Soleil, look!” Nina looks down and Ophelia is in front of them. All on her own! She’s already talented on the ice. Nina isn’t sure she could spin around like that. “What are you guys talking about?” 

“How  _ awesome _ you are!” Soleil answers. “Will you show me again?” 

Ophelia is the brightest light here, even among all the decorations and stars. She smiles and twirls again. Halfway through she shrieks, however, as she’s lifted clean off the ground. Nina gasps too, because Niles swoops in from  _ nowhere _ and picks Ophelia up. He spins her through the air like she’s a skater in a performance and Ophelia’s shrieks turn to genuine giggles. 

Odin takes Nina by her hand, and Soleil by hers, and raises both of their hands above his head. It forces them to spin in a circle, and Nina begins to giggle too. Even more when Soleil yelps and uses both of her hands to hang on to Odin’s wrist. 

“Are you girls having fun?” Odin asks.

“Yeah! What about you nerds?” 

Niles snorts. “The line is forming to see you-know-who. We thought you might want to hop in while it’s still pretty short.” He brings Ophelia down and she rests on his hip. Nina thinks they kind of look like they were meant to be together like that. Or maybe it’s just Niles. Niles looks like a dad. He’s got a really huggable shape! He seems like he would be a fun dad, like he would be cool and let you eat ice cream for dinner as long as you brushed your teeth after. 

Nina already knows he’s good for cuddles. 

“Where are we going?” Ophelia asks. 

“It’s a surprise!” Odin says. He’s just holding Nina’s hand, now, but his focus is on Soleil. He’s trying to help her steady herself, but the more he tries to let go of her the more she seems to panic. Nina tries not to laugh outright at it. “We’ll also have some hot chocolate while we wait; a cold night deserves cocoa!”

“Come on,” Nina reaches out for one of Soleil’s hands to steady her as well. She looks relieved. “Let’s go get in line!” 

Line to see Santa! It’s a bit of an event for them to get everyone back into their shoes, but by the time they’re situated in line and chatting with each other it’s already dark. There’s plenty of light in the park, though. Every tree is lit with Christmas lights and there are lamps and heaters all over the place. The Mayor’s Christmas tree is still dark, won’t be lit until a little longer. Actually, Nina is pretty sure she’ll know when they’re about to do that because Soleil will probably run off to join them. The Mayor  _ is _ her stepfather, after all. 

Odin and Niles step away from them. They’re not far. Odin keeps glancing over to make sure they’re still safe and sound in line. From here Nina can see that Niles has his arm wrapped around Odin. His palm is open and resting on his side, she can see his gloved thumb drumming on Odin’s hip bone.

God they’re so cute. Odin turns and cups the side of Niles’s face and Nina actually has to look away when he leans close to kiss him because it’s  _ so cute _ . They’re just precious over there, acting like they’re newlyweds or something enjoying the winter. Their anniversary is coming up; wow they’re just cute.

Soleil rests her elbow on Nina’s shoulder and she startles. “Oh!” She gasps.

“It would be cuter if they were girls.” She says, and Nina snorts at her for trying to dig up an old fight. 

“There’s no shame in being wrong,” Nina argues playfully. She turns around, about to say something else… but instead she’s met with someone she’s never met before. He’s standing behind Soleil and he’s… tall. He’s wearing stylish clothes. A nice coat with a zipper that goes up the right side of his torso instead of up the middle. It has a hood but he’s got it down. There’s a cool collar in it too, one that buttons up around his neck like a sweater almost. His jeans are dark blue and they’re skinny around his legs, and his shoes are the only thing that seems casual on him; dark purple sneakers with white laces. “Uh…” 

He’s almost creepy, but before he can be Soleil turns to look over her shoulder at him an shrieks. “You’re here!?” 

“Soleil!” He hisses. “Where have you been?” 

She throws her arms around him and Nina is even more confused. He has to hunch over to hug her. He’s older than they are; she’s never met him before in her life. But he bends and he hugs her and they sway for a minute until She steps back and punches his arm. Probably playfully, but he rubs his arm and whines. 

“Hey!” 

“Dad said you weren’t going to make it back from college! I didn’t know you were coming; when did you even get here? Omigosh, hang on,” She holds her hand up, and then she turns to look at Nina. “You’ve got to meet Nina,” she goes on to explain. 

“Oh,” He says, “Yes, I do. I haven’t exactly been polite…” 

“Nina,” Soleil grins, “This is Siegbert. He’s my brother! Step-brother, I guess. He goes to school in Hoshido and I had  _ no idea _ he was going to be here, but isn’t he adorable?” 

“Wh--I didn’t even know you--O-Okay.” Nina is baffled. She had no idea that Soleil had a brother now. Maybe she just didn’t bring it up, or maybe it has to do with her whole ‘trying not to brag’ thing, but Nina doesn’t want to question it. She just waves, awkwardly, at the stylish gentle giant. 

The line moves slow. Ophelia still seems unsure what they’re waiting on. She stays close to Nina and slides her hand in hers. Nina squeezes it. She’s not jealous of Soleil for having a sibling. Nina has one! Ophelia is like her sister; her own sister who she desperately hopes isn’t having as much trouble sleeping alone as Nina herself is.

Odin and Niles return, passing cups of cocoa around. Mitama and Rhajat first, and they thank them quickly before going back to a debate about which of the singers up on the stage nearby is more talented. It doesn’t really matter; they’re singing Christmas songs. Nina’s not sure you can judge the talent of a musician based on his ability to sing Frosty the Snowman. As soon as his hands are emptied, Odin wraps his scarf around Nina’s neck. He must have noticed that she gave away the other one to Ophelia. She turns and smiles at him, but doesn’t say much. She doesn’t get a chance because Niles is passing her a cup of steamy cocoa, and then Ophelia as well. 

“So,” Soleil says to Siegbert, while this is happening. “When did you get back? How come you didn’t tell anyone?” 

“I wanted it to be a surprise,” Siegbert shrugs his shoulders. “I know how excited Father is to have us all together for the event tonight. I thought I would come see you first, but then… you were nowhere to be found. And  _ dad _ sad you were in your room, so I only assumed you snuck out.” 

“Hey,” Niles raises his brow high. Nina’s gaze trails to the eyepatch he’s wearing… and for a moment she’s distracted, wondering if he has different ones for different outfits that can be swapped out like purses. It makes her break into a smile. “I thought you were texting him to let him know where you were?” 

“I did! I told him I would meet him here,” Soleil says. She rocks on her heels while they talk. “Are you staying long? You should hang out with us! Please?” She stops her plea only for a second while she’s passed a cup of cocoa. Siegbert looks startled when one is offered to him too, but he politely declines.

“Oh, no thank you. I’m fine.” He smiles at Niles, who shrugs. 

Ophelia is still leaning heavy into Nina while she sips on her cocoa. Nina can see an ice cube floating in hers… Odin must not have trusted her to drink it while it was too hot. Nina thinks she’s lucky he thought ahead. A burnt tongue on Ophelia Dusk? She’d suffer. “Hey, hey,” Nina says to her. “You’re not going to sleep yet, are you? You haven’t even seen what we’re waiting for!” Specifically because Mitama and Rhajat are acting as a wall to keep the surprise from being spoiled too soon. Ophelia takes another sip of her cocoa and shakes her head. 

“I’m awake!” She argues. Nina smiles down at her and squeezes her hand. “You better stay that way, because,” 

“We’re next!” Mitama gasps. She giggles when the man dressed as Santa beckons to her. She pulls at Rhajat’s hand. “Come on! Let’s make a wish!” 

“Absolutely not. I am not sitting on some old man’s lap.” 

Ophelia’s cup splatters to the ground, and Nina gasps. She uses just one arm to pull her away from the wet spot. “Are you alright?” 

“It’s  _ Santa _ !” Ophelia squeals. “Nina, it’s him! He’s just like the stories; is he real?” 

“Of course he is!” Odin answers for Nina. He sets his hands on his hips. “Santa comes in many forms, but always the form held most dear to your heart.” 

Mitama runs over there first. She’s next in line and she sits down on Santa’s knee. She seems a little embarrassed at first but then she laughs with him while she talks and they pose for a picture. Next it’s Ophelia’s turn. She pulls at Nina’s hand. 

“Come with me?” She asks. How can Nina say no? She nods her head, passes her cup to Odin, and together the two of the run forward.

Thank goodness this Santa smells like pine and peppermint. Nina thinks his beard is real; he’s a nice old man who makes room for both of them on his lap. Nina is more hesitant to sit, but she has to for Ophelia. Ophelia is ecstatic. 

She glows with happiness. Santa asks her what she wants and while she leans up to whisper in his ear Nina looks over at her friends. Mitama has her hands covering her mouth, but instead of yawning she just looks excited. Rhajat has a smile on her face, too. They’re all happy. Ophelia deserves this! She’s so little… she deserves to meet Santa, and to believe in him.

When the woman dressed like an elf asks them to pose, they both make peace signs with their hands and the camera flashes. 

“So,” Nina says while they start to walk away. “What did you ask Santa for?” 

“You can’t tell!” Ophelia gasps. “Just like a wish on a star, it has to be kept secret!” 

“I don’t think that’s how Santa works.” Nina says. “Please? Can’t you tell me?” 

“I cannot.” Ophelia says softer. “Deepest apologies, sister, but my lips are sealed!” 

“Girls,” Odin says. He shows up behind them and out of nowhere, but he drops his arms around both of them. “The ceremony is about to begin. Come on; we’ll find a place to see the tree with a nice view.” 

“Odin,” Ophelia says in a hush. “Will you carry me..? I’m tired.” 

“Oh,” Odin says. He bends down and scoops her up like it’s just second nature. Ophelia settles on his hip and with her head tucked against his shoulder. “Don’t worry, we’ll get you home soon.” 

Nina stays close at Odin’s other side. To watch over Ophelia, but partly just to be close to him. She knows Niles is standing on the other side of him. Soleil and Siegbert are chatting beside her. They’re talking still when the mayor’s voice comes over the microphone, but then both of their heads shoot up. 

Xander, the mayor, is Soleil’s stepdad. He’s tall and handsome and has a voice that carries and sounds like it was simply meant to deliver speeches to crowds. “Thank you all for attending,” he begins. “Thank you for supporting Windmire today by joining us. As you all know, the Christmas Tree Lighting is an event near and dear to my heart. It is meant to remind us that no matter who we are; rich, poor, young, old… we are never out of reach of the things that make the world good. There is always magic, there is always wonder and joy.

“I have with me today my new husband. He came into my life years ago, but it was only recently that I found out how deeply I needed and cared for him. With our marriage I gained a whole, new family. A husband and a daughter, and I know that I could not be more proud of her. I could not be more proud of my son, who went out of his way to fly home from school so that he could stand on this stage with his family, for our first-ever tree lighting ceremony together.” 

Soleil and Siegbert both are frozen. Nina looks over her shoulder just in time to see them exchange a terrified glance and start running. Hand in hand they disappear in the direction of their parents. She raises her eyebrow. 

“You might be wondering where they are. You see, I’m wondering the same thing. Teenagers.” Xander continues on, and most of the crowd laughs. Nina certainly does. She can see the two of them scramble onto the stage. Laslow, at Xander’s side, visibly sighs. Seriously, Nina can actually  _ see _ a weight come off of his chest. 

While Soleil and Siegbert are scrambling to pretend like they haven’t just been somewhat publicly humiliated by their father, Leo pops in beside them. Nina looks up to see him eyeballing Ophelia. She’s asleep now, already tuckered out before the tree is even lit. “Who is this?” He asks. 

“Ophelia,” Odin says with a smile. “One of Nina’s friends.” 

“Yes, I noticed you two had a few more girls in your care than I expected. Where did you find them?” 

“We stole them,” Niles says without missing a beat. “What did you do all day?” 

“We didn’t steal them!” Odin argues. “We’re--well we’re taking them back. Nina wanted to include her friends in this momentous event! Don’t worry; we’ve been diligently watching over them.” 

Nina smirks. She notices that Odin chooses to leave out the fact that Niles isn’t lying. They really did steal those girls right out of their home. There’s probably a lot of legal trouble on the line if they were caught, but… they won’t be. Aversa won’t be up until morning, there’s no doubt about that. 

Leo takes a moment to look at Nina, and she realizes she’s been caught staring. “Are you having a good time?” He asks. 

“Yes!” She’s actually had a blast. Sure she cried earlier today, but it’s long forgotten by now. “Thank you so much for everything, Leo. This is all really amazing! Do you do this every year?” 

“The tree lighting? Yes. My brother is the mayor.” 

Nina rolls her eyes. “I meant take in a foster kid.” 

“Oh! No. This is the first year I’ve done it. If you like it so much, though, perhaps I’ll make a habit of it. Who am I to stand between someone and their dreams?” Nina steps closer to Leo and pulls on his sleeve. It takes him a minute to get the drift...but he leans down and she says a little softer. 

“Any updates on the situation with my arents-pay?” 

Leo snorts. “Not much. I’ve put together an advertisement for a reward, but it won’t air until tomorrow.” He looks up, turns his attention to the stage that Xander and his family is on. The crowd around them begins counting down and even though it’s just a silly tree lighting Nina feels excitement and wonder coursing through her. 

The countdown ends and the tree explodes with color. More lights than Nina ever dreamed, ornaments and ribbons down the sides of it. It’s absolutely stunning. And then she yawns… and the next thing she knows they’ve taken her friends home. It’s just Odin and Niles and Nina again, walking down the hall to her bedroom. Niles has his arm wrapped around her shoulder and Odin pulls open the door to her room. She falls onto the bed without bothering to change into pajamas… and Odin sits down with her. He pulls back the blankets and Nina kicks off her shoes so she can slide under them. After that she just leans against Odin while the day catches up with her. 

Today was crazy, but Nina really sort of loved it. A good crazy. 

“Nina?” Odin asks. Nina turns to look up at him, and he continues. “You’re humming?” 

“Oh.” She smiles dreamily. “It’s a lullaby. My parents used to sing it to me.” For a moment, Odin’s face is hard to read. His brows knit but he doesn’t seem sad or confused or mad. Nina sighs softly against him, and settles her head back onto his shoulder. “I can teach you.” 

“You will?” Odin asks. 

Nina nods her head. It’s quiet and littered with an extra yawn, but she sings slow and gentle for him. “The sun’ll come out tomorrow, so you gotta hang on till tomorrow… come what may…” she hums it a little further, but she’s fading fast. Then Odin hums it for her, matches her tune, and she falls asleep right there against his arm. She droops onto him entirely and then it’s just Odin and Niles in the room with a sleeping Nina.

Odin keeps holding her a few minutes longer, he keeps humming her lullaby like he’s done it his whole life. Then he leans down, kisses her forehead, and shifts to slide out of her bed. The moment he does he reaches up and scrubs at his eyes with his hands. Niles pulls him towards the doorway, but Odin stops to glance at Nina one more time. 

“Niles,” he says, “Please, I want to tell her. I can’t lose her again, and,” He hesitates. Niles holds him for a moment. Hugs him, and he kisses Odin’s temple.

“She’s spending the day with Leo tomorrow. We can talk to him about it when they’re done. We’ve got to tell him first. Maybe he can push the paperwork through with some of his influence.” 

Niles flicks off the light and Odin’s sigh is the last noise within the room. They both leave, slip outside of the bedroom and off to head home for the night, no doubt. 

Nina lays awake in her bed, eyes droopy but concerned. What is it that Odin wants to tell her? Her heart races with the idea. Maybe… But there’s just no way, is there? She smiles and turns onto her side, buries her face in the pillow. She’s not sure what exactly Odin and Niles were talking about, but that night she has sweet dreams. 


	6. Cause Yesterday Is Dead And Gone, And Me Along With It

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nina meets her parents.

“Do you think we should buy her flowers? Or a gift? Maybe a locket?” Odin asks. He’s walking backwards, in front of Niles, stumbling over every few steps when the sidewalk is uneven but far too excited to face forwards like a normal person. His hands are in front of him and held up; Odin has always talked with his hands. He’s no different now. “A heart shaped locket, one she can put pictures in if she likes. Maybe it can have her initial engraved on it?”

Niles has his hands tucked into his back pockets. “I don’t think we need to buy her favor, luv. She’s been missing us just as much as we’ve missed her. A locket won’t change that.”

“I know,” Odin says, “But I want it to be perfect! I want her to be as happy as I am. I wonder if she’ll call me ‘Dad’ someday…”

Niles smiles at him. He and Odin never had any other kids, after Nina. They lost their baby and they never wanted to replace her in their hearts. They only wanted to find her again. Now it would be nearly impossible for them _to_ have another child… and Niles is just fine with that. They have their daughter back. They’ll tell her the truth just as soon as she finishes up her day out with Leo. And, of course, after they talk with Leo about it too.

But damn, Odin is blissful like this. He’s smiling and glowing more than Niles thinks he has been in years. Sure, they’ve been happy. It would be a lie to say they haven’t had good days. Ten years is a long time. There have been smiles. The day they got married was a good day, for example. Sure it was just the two of them signing papers in a legal office, but it was fun. They were happy, together. Odin is happy and optimistic by nature. Since Nina has come back into their lives, he’s been positively radiant.

Niles just loves to see Odin so happy, is all. It makes his chest feel light. And he loves that Nina will be with them again soon. He wants to do all those things he missed. Maybe she thinks she’s all grown up, now, but Niles doesn’t. She’s still his little girl. He may not be the one who sends her off to her first day of school or the one who teaches her how to ride a bike but he’s going to be the one who takes her to embarrassing father-daughter dances and he’s going to be the one who teases her in front of her potential boyfriends. Or girlfriends--he’s not sure what was happening with Soleil last night but nothing about it was heterosexual.

Niles’s phone vibrates and he tugs it from his pocket. They’re just exploring some shops. Not in a horrible part of town, but it’s quiet out today. It’s cold, most people are indoors. Niles is never cold when Odin’s smile is warm as the sunshine. Besides; Windmire is always cold.

He looks down at his phone and sees that it’s a text from Nina. She sent him a picture of herself with Leo; Ah. Leo’s spilled something on his shirt. He smiles to himself and thinks Jakob will be annoyed when he finds out. Niles doesn’t care about Leo though--only how cute Nina looks in that selfie. She has that same smile as Odin. Warm like sunshine.

But then as he goes to close his phone he notices an alert on a news app. An app he wants to silence but never remembers to. He’s about to just close the article so the little red notification will go away when he notices something wildly out of place. “Wait.”

Odin stops walking. He waits. He tilts his head to one side and Niles frowns deeper while he reads over the article. A breath later he can feel Odin’s hand on his shoulder, and he’s in his personal space trying to get an idea of what he’s looking at. “What is it, Niles?”

“Leo put out a reward for ‘the couple who can prove they’re Nina’s parents’.” He says. He’s trying to browse the article, but his chest is tight. This is horrible. Odin must feel the same, because Niles can hear the sudden worry in his voice.

“What? When? There will be press... and scams! They shouldn’t be out in public alone, and--” The noise that comes out of Odin’s mouth after that is the most terrifying thing Niles has heard in his whole life. Well, second only to the sound of Odin’s body thudding to the ground. He’s fainted, and his voice bubbles out a withered moan when he collapses.

Niles’s brain registers that there was a thump before he fell, too. He registers it when he sees her, a woman with her hair in low pigtails and a dark purple coat with a bat in her hand. A _bat_ , and Niles’s heart is beating out of his chest. She hit him with that--she hit Odin in the head with that. She could have killed him.

Does he know her? She’s so familiar. She’s got this look in her eyes like she’s perplexed and she’s got her fingers gripped hard on that bat. She’s familiar, but is it possible?

All of these thoughts are in a matter of seconds. Not even that, shorter than that, because Niles begins to lurch forward. He doesn’t know if he’s going to tackle that woman or if he’s going to check on his husband, first, but he moves one way or another.

He doesn’t get to move far. He steps forward and he takes in a sharp breath to shout, and as he does a hand wraps around him from behind. A strong arm that pins his arms to his chest and another that holds an absolutely drenched rag over his mouth, over his nose. And he _gasped_. Niles gasped because he meant to check on Odin but he knows that’s his downfall. Taking in such a deep breath of it when it’s obviously a drug. His arms feel weak and he struggles to fight back, but maybe he can still overpower this person.

He’s about to break free of their grasp, but that woman watches him with the bat in her hands. She’s poised to strike and when he struggles she does. She knocks the bat into his gut and he’s forced to breathe again. Another breath of that and Niles has lost.

Whoever is behind him got the best of him and he hates it. His phone clatters to the ground and then so does he. His vision is blurry and he’s fading fast. “Odin,” he mumbles. His cheek is squished against the sidewalk. He can barely see, but he knows that woman, that woman who _hit him_ is bent over Odin. Touching him. Trailing her fingers over his face. He can see red but he’s not sure if it’s Odin’s blood or his own rage. That’s _his_ husband. His sunshine, his hero, _his_ family. But she touches his face and Niles is powerless to do anything about it. “O-din.” His eye rolls back and his world goes dark.

 

・。・゜★・。・。☆・゜・。・゜。・。・゜★・。・。☆・。・゜★・。・。☆・゜・。・゜。・。・゜★・。・。☆

  


“Oh, that’s odd,” Leo says into his phone. Nina has a completely finished bowl of ice cream in front of her but his is nearly untouched. It’s because he’s been taking business calls the whole time. She’s pretty convinced if Odin and Niles were here they would have made him stop so he could have some fun. But he’s been on and off calls and she’s been a little bored of it.

She can’t complain. At least one or two of those calls have been about potential candidates to be her parents. This is, however, the first call where he hasn’t sounded so formal. He’s been chatting for a few minutes, and after a few more sentences Nina gets it; he must be talking to his husband. And that’s great and all, but still boring.

He gives her an apologetic glance before he finally manages to hang up. “I’m sorry,” He admits. “That was the last call I’ll take. I promise. It was Takumi; their flight got changed to try and beat some weather. They’ll be back tonight instead of tomorrow.”

“Oh!” Nina thinks that’s actually kind of exciting. “When? Will it be late? Will I get to see them?”

“Of course you will,” Leo answers. He’s about to take a bite of the ice cream. Finally. It’s a little melty. Of course, it’s the middle of winter so it’s not _too_ bad. He doesn’t get to take that bite of ice cream, though. Instead he glances up and he sees two people staring at him. Or, more accurately, at Nina. He frowns as they approach. Nina watches him frown, and then sneaks a glance at them, and she thinks… maybe they would have been better to bring Odin and Niles with them. Especially Niles. He’s a softie… but he knows how to scare people off.

These people are very cautious and calm, though. The woman, dressed modestly, speaks up first. “Are you Mr. Leo Vigarde? I’m so sorry to interrupt. We saw you on the news, today, and…”

Nina turns around to look at her. The woman gasps. She covers her mouth with her fingertips and her eyes shimmer and Nina is a little… alarmed. “Uh,” Nina mumbles.

“N-Nina?” She asks. Nina turns to look back at Leo, anxiously. What if these are her parents? That… doesn’t feel right. She knows she asked Leo to find them for her. She’s not stupid, she knows there will be scams. But she also… She also really thought she had this figured out. She thought that she could confront Odin and Niles later, that Leo could call off this reward situation.

But the way that woman looks at her makes her chest clench up. What if she’s wrong? Odin and Niles are incredible, but Nina could just be daydreaming.

“Any interviews need to go through Jakob, at my home. I’m sorry for your inconvenience. It was mentioned in the broadcast,” Leo says. He pushes away the ice cream and stands up. When he does he steps in front of Nina and that makes her wonder if _he_ thinks this is fake.

But the man looks devastated. He’s got on a black scarf and he has a hat on too, but under it he has brownish hair. He looks _tired_. Like his whole life has been leading up to this and maybe he can sleep afterwards. “Please, wait,” he says, “Please, take down your ad. There will be so many people here trying to hurt her. We’ve been looking for her for ten years; we can’t lose her again.”

Nina’s heart sinks. Ten years. How could he know that? That wasn’t in the advertisement. Nina saw it. Leo didn’t mention any specifics! He wanted people to prove they were the real deal, not just quote his own search call. She stands up too, and holds Leo’s hand.

That’s when she notices the mark on his arm. His sleeves are rolled up and it’s positioned on his wrist, just like hers. She doesn’t get long to glance at it, because she looks back down at her own. “He has my same birthmark,” She mumbles out loud.

That _definitely_ wasn’t in the advertisement. Nina watches Leo knit his brows together. He stays positioned in front of Nina, he squeezes her hand. He’s tall already, but he makes himself taller. Bigger. Stronger, to keep her safe. Like he can debunk this if it’s fake right here and now. “What are your names?”

“Flores,” She speaks up. “Our names are Niles and Grace Flores. Please, I know you wanted to be met at your home but I don’t want to be caught up in so many scam artists, not when I just…” She looks at Nina again. Grace. Her name is Grace and she looks at Nina with her shining, wet eyes and she shakes her head. “I just need to know if this is my family. I’ve been looking for her for so long. Do you… Do you mind if we see your wrist? Do you have the birthmark?”

Nina looks at her wrist again. She holds it out, and Leo’s face is hard to read in that moment. He looks at it just like he’s never seen it before. Has he? He looks a little surprised. Then he looks concerned… but his focus turns to the man claiming his name is Niles.

And how weird. How weird that Nina’s real father may really be named Niles? She didn’t think it was such a common name around here, but maybe it is. Or maybe this guy is a liar? She doesn’t… like him. Yet. And as much as this woman is nice, Nina just doesn’t remember a mom. And neither of them make her think of sunshine _or_ moonlight.

But she can’t rely on memories she made when she was just a four year old. It’s just so strange. She always thought when she met her real parents, no matter who they were, she would just know. She would just bond with them right away, some kind of animal instinct that would tell her it was right and safe.

She watches him pull a piece of paper out of his wallet. Folded up and dingy, this document looks _old_ , but it’s a birth certificate. She knows because she peers over Leo’s arm while he looks at it. Is it really hers? She’s never seen hers before, and Leo ordered one but it hasn’t arrived yet. Sure enough there it is in ink. Niles Flores. But it says Grace _Bennett_ and that makes Nina hesitate again. Can it really be a coincidence? But it has to be. These are two different people… and Bennett is a common last name.

“This is interesting and compelling, but I would much rather meet with you again back at my home, with some representatives from child services or the police, or whoever should properly oversee this,” Leo says. “Obviously I won’t simply write you a check and send her off with you until I’ve had more compelling evidence.”

“A paternity test?” Grace offers, “Anything you like. We’ll have it done in a matter of hours if you’ll let us have our little girl. Do you think… Do you think five is too soon?”

Leo hesitates. “I… I suppose I could get in touch with Nina’s caseworker by then…”

Grace and her husband light up. Nina’s stomach flutters again. Five? And then what? “Wait,” She says, “Where do you live? Where will we go?”

“We live here in Windmire,” Grace answers in a coo, “But your father’s taken a position somewhere else. We’ll be moving soon, that’s why…” She takes a deep breath. “That’s why I don’t want to leave you behind, again. I did it once, I won’t do it twice.”

“Somewhere else?” Leo asks. He raises up a brow. Is he suspicious? He should be! Nina thinks that her heart is heavy and sympathetic to this woman who may very well be her mother, but she has to admit she’s wary of being moved out of the city in the near future. She’s been in Windmire most of her life. Leo shakes his head. “Nina and I should be going. We will see you at five. Please have your documents in order.”

He pulls Nina by her shoulder and she walks with him. Hesitantly she glances behind her just to see Grace watching her, studying her, holding her fingers over her lips again. She notices that man also looking after her like he’s losing a part of himself.

She leans into Leo’s side. “Do you think… Do you think they’re really my parents?”

“We didn’t tell anyone about your birthmark. It’s hard to dispute… but we’ll let a DNA test decide. They seem nice enough.”

Nina thinks about that. Yeah. They did seem nice. And she was really pretty, and he seemed smart enough. Maybe they’re the parents of her dreams and she’s just too nervous to realize what’s right in front of her? She’s been waiting her whole life to meet her parents, after all. Now that Leo put out a search for them… well it’s only natural that they would take any opportunity they could to find her. Right?

_Leo found my parents. They’re supposed to be picking me up at 5._

She texts Odin and Niles in the little group chat she has with them. She loves that chat… Niles uses way too many emojis for an adult and Odin texts like a grandpa with complete sentences and punctuation and capitalization. He only uses the :D smile and it’s very cute.

Neither of them respond right away and she pouts. She texts Soleil instead.

Soleil does respond right away. _What? No way! And just when your test we did last week was supposed to come in the mail today!_

_Rude._

_Are you excited? Do you love them?_

_I don’t know. I’m just shocked. I thought this would feel so right, but something doesn’t._

 

・。・゜★・。・。☆・゜・。・゜。・。・゜★・。・。☆・。・゜★・。・。☆・゜・。・゜。・。・゜★・。・。☆

 

_“Grima,” Aversa says. She snaps her fingers in front of her face a few times and Grima blinks back into reality. “I was talking to you.”_

_“Forgive me,” Grima answers. She clears her throat. “I was distracted. You were telling me about a little girl in your care. And why you brought me here.”_

_“Try to keep up, jeez.” Gangrel is a man with pasty skin and dirty brown hair. Not in color; his hair is reddish brown in color. It’s just dirty. Grima isn’t exactly a fan of him. He’s notoriously incompetent when it comes to completing even the simplest tasks and he makes any job her family makes her do twice as hard to get through._

_Aversa is her sister. She can’t remember anything about her, of course. Fifteen years earlier Grima was in an accident. She can’t remember the accident either, but she does remember being told no one in the accident with her survived. She was told she lost her husband and two children, but she doesn’t remember their faces. She mourned the best she could, but she truly spent most of her time wondering… why not her? Why didn’t she die?_

_She supposes she should consider herself lucky that she has a family to fall back on. The family that raised her, they claim, but she has no memories of anything like that. Nothing at all, just a feeling of dread when she’s in the same room as them. In the room with Aversa, and with her father, Validar, now… Grima feels as if she’s going to be sick. She prefers to hide away from them, but she’s very-much trapped. They’re manipulative, they’re cruel, and they’ve spent years reminding her about how it’s all her fault that their lives are like this. It’s all her fault that she became so dependent that they had to so generously give up their hopes and their dreams to care for their dear Grima._

_“Nina’s parents left a note saying they’d be back for her years ago,” Aversa says. “They’re never coming back. They’re probably living large with no bratty kids for miles, hell. But this morning that dumb billionaire put up a five hundred thousand dollar reward for the couple who can prove they’re Nina’s parents. We have to act now, before the whole world figures it out.”_

_“What makes you think that any of us can pass as her parents?” Grima asks. She knows they’ve brought her here to do this. She knows it because there’s no other reason for her to be here._

_“Because no one else knows that little shit as well as I do,” Aversa says. “I know that dumb lullabye she sings, I know she has that ugly birthmark on her arm, and I know what that letter says word for word. No one else is going to have that kind of intel!”_

_“But what do you want to do with her afterwards?” Grima asks. She folds her arms tight around herself. “Suppose we pull this off and we get that money; you’ll still have a little girl to care for.”_

_“That’s the easy part,” Gangrel says. He holds up a few pages. Grima squints before she realizes they’re plane tickets. “First we get her on the first plane out of the country, tonight, and once she’s there?” He draws his finger across his neck in a line. Grima’s eyes grow wide momentarily, and she flashes her attention to Validar, across the room. Her father nods his head at her._

_“You’ve never asked me to kill anyone before,” Grima says, “Let alone a child. What gave you the idea that I would ever do something like this?”_

_“Because you’ll be free.” Validar answers. Grima’s back stiffens. She looks back at him with a suspicious brow raised._

_“Free?”_

_“You can leave, and I will not follow you. Do this for us and you never have to see any of us again.” Validar holds her stare, and she wishes she had a good reason to say no. She wishes her freedom wasn’t worth more to her than the life of a child. But it’s just one kid, and she doesn’t even know them, and maybe, just maybe, she can convince herself that it’s okay. She bites her lip._

_“What exactly do you want me to do, then?”_

_“You’ll just have to play the role of the girl’s mom.” Aversa says. “Nina’s mom. I can’t do it myself because she would recognize me, but you… she has never met you before. And you’ve got her same hair color, your skin is… close enough. People will buy it.”_

_“Pretend to be her mother? That’s it?” Grima asks. “Who is her mother?”_

_“Her name is Grace Bennett. Or, it was,” Gangrel says. “I already did some research on it. She and that girl’s dad, his name is Niles Flores, got married a while back. I saw that they filed for the marriage license anyway. Grace also filed to have her name changed once, so do some math; Grace Flores.”_

_“You properly researched this, didn’t you?” Grima asks. “Just because they got married doesn’t mean she took his name.”_

_Gangrel waves his hand. “Yeah, I did the research. They got married, she changed her name. I already printed up the fake IDs and passports.”_

_“And I managed to find Nina’s passport in my file cabinets.” Aversa mutters. “Brat has had one for years but we’re lucky it hasn’t expired yet.”_

_“What is Nina’s last name?” Grima asks, “Is it also Flores? Or is it Bennett?”_

_“Kid doesn’t have one.” Aversa shrugs. “They didn’t leave that birth certificate with her when they dumped her. Just that her name is Nina. Took years for them to figure out what certificate went with her, and by then she already had identification and a social with no last name. Happens all the time.”_

_“Does it?” Grima frowns. She doesn’t think this adds up. Something is missing; an important detail somewhere is missing. Not to mention the name Grace Bennett gave her a migraine the moment she heard it. She shakes her head. “What’s first?”_

_“Getting rid of that Leo guy’s body guards.” Aversa answers. “They’ve been spending way more time with Nina than he is, and they would probably pick up on a scam in no time.”_

_“That should be the first order of business, then,” Grima decides. “Get them taken care of--non lethally--and then we can make our move on the girl. And while we’re at it maybe we can think of a non-lethal alternative to her situation as well.”_

_“Oh, no,” Aversa grins. “Not that one. She’s been a thorn in my ass since the day I met her. I’m going to make sure she gets her just desserts.”_

_Grima bites her own tongue. She has no interest in being on the receiving end of Aversa’s wrath, but she just can’t wrap her brain around killing a little girl. Gangrel claps his hands, then rubs them together greedily. Grima notices he has an odd mark on his arm. It must be stage makeup or a temporary tattoo. It makes the headache worse. “Alright guys. Next stop: Easy Street.”_

 

・。・゜★・。・。☆・゜・。・゜。・。・゜★・。・。☆・。・゜★・。・。☆・゜・。・゜。・。・゜★・。・。☆

 

Aversa is there. She had to be present to sign away her guardianship over Nina. It’s while she’s signing the paper that Nina truly thinks something is wrong. She feels nauseous and worried and not happy. She should be happy.

But the day flew by too fast. Grace and Niles Flores produced a DNA test signed by a judge and with all the t’s crossed and i’s dotted. They’re her parents. They’ve got the evidence to prove it. There’s no arguing with it.

But it’s just not right. Nina couldn’t have possibly made up the only memories of her parents she has, right? She stays close to Leo all day. Mostly because she’s waiting for him to figure out something isn’t adding up, but the more he looks at it the more everything falls into place. So they’re going to be reunited. Officially and legally.

Charlotte is there. She’s the one organizing the paperwork and witnessing the signatures but she simply doesn’t look happy. Nina isn’t sure why. She should be thrilled to have Nina off her workload. Benny is there with her. He’s not specifically assigned to Nina, but they work together often enough that she knows him by name. He’s huge and intimidating to look at but a gentle giant.

Leo is present, waiting to be told where to sign. Nina has her one backpack packed. It’s crammed full, this time. She couldn’t take everything but Leo promised to ship her the rest of it. So she took some clothes. Some of the stuff Odin and Niles bought her.

They’re not here. They never replied to her text message at all. Odin _or_ Niles. Neither of them are here to give her a hug and a kiss on the head and tell her to be a good girl. They’re not here to see her off with her family.

Nina was so sure it was them. Since the night before she hasn’t stopped thinking about it. She thought she had it all figured out, down to Leo even openly telling her that once upon a time Odin and Niles were homeless. Down to the sunshine and the moonlight, everything checked out… but, well, who is she to argue with science? A DNA test won’t lie.

These two strangers are her parents. Flores. Nina Flores. It’s not the worst last name. She tries to wrap her head around it. She’s been looking for her parents for so long, her whole life! She finally has them back. She should be happy.

She wants to be happy. Grace wraps her arm around Nina’s shoulders and Nina tries not to feel stiff. “May I see,” She asks softly. Nina isn’t sure what she means until she reaches out and touches Nina’s wrist. Then she nods her head yes. Grace pulls it up to look at it. Inspect it. She makes a face at it even, and Nina wishes she knew what it meant. Could she just be happy? Happy to see that her daughter is here, and still has her birthmark? It’s not like it could have gone away.

Why is this happening so fast? Nina wants to get to know her parents before they whisk her off to some new home in some new place. Her phone vibrates. Soleil. It says _SOS SOS SOS._

Nina doesn’t know what _that_ means either. _Are you okay?_ She texts back.

“That’s it.” Charlotte clears her throat. She staples together some documents. “You are officially reunited. Congratulations.”

“Great,” Other-Niles says. Nina looks at him with a flash of concern. “Because it’s getting a little late. We’ve got to hit the road.

“What about your reward?” Leo asks. Nina’s parents look between each other.

“You’ve given us so much already, just by bringing our baby back to us.” Grace says. She squeezes Nina’s shoulders. Nina thinks of when Odin did the same thing. She looks at her feet. “We don’t need that money.”

“Oh, no, I insist,” Leo goes on. “I have every intention of sending Nina off with as much of a headstart as she can get in life. I’ve come to care about her very much. We all have.”

Other-Niles looks at his watch. “If you’re certain, then, perhaps we can leave you with a check of ours. You can wire it at your leisure, to spare you a trip to the bank.”

Leo looks up at the clock as well. “If you would like to stay for dinner, I’d be happy to have Odin make up a certified check for you as soon as he arrives...”

“No!” Other-Niles says it loud and fast and Nina flinches. So does Grace. “Uh, we have a lot to get taken care of. Errands to run. We want to get our little girl settled in.”

“I see.” Leo lies. Then he steps closer to Nina and kneels in front of her. He’s almost as tall as she is, on his knees like that. It’s wild how tall the men in his family are. She wraps her arms tight around his shoulders and begins to cry.

“I’ll miss you,” She says. Her fingers dig into his vest and he sighs, gently, near her ear.

“You’re welcome to visit us here any time you like, Nina.”

“Will you tell them goodbye for me?” Nina asks. “Odin and Niles? Tell them I’ll miss them so much.”

 

・。・゜★・。・。☆・゜・。・゜。・。・゜★・。・。☆・。・゜★・。・。☆・゜・。・゜。・。・゜★・。・。☆

 

“I will.” Leo pushes Nina back and straightens up some of her bangs to tuck behind her ear. He’s got a horrible feeling about this. It’s not right for Odin and Niles to be completely off the radar. Everything about this couple is throwing up red flags. They’re leaving town soon, they showed up suddenly, they’re just… worrisome.

Nina turns and leaves, walking slowly behind them. Leo watches them step into their car and he watches them pull out through the gates and turn left, but that’s all he sees of it. Aversa leaves by a seperate car.

Charlotte and Benny stand to one side of him. Jakob stands on the other, with a tight frown on his lips. “I don’t like it,” Jakob says.

“Odin and Niles would have liked to say goodbye.” Leo folds his arms tight around himself to chase away the cold. It’s snowing now, heavy flakes that make it hard to see in the distance. “Something about this doesn’t sit well with me.”

“That paperwork came through too fast.” Charlotte is looking over it again. “Everything checks out but it’s just… normally it takes a few days for these kind of results to come in. They would have had to pay big bucks to expedite it.”

“Maybe they just wanted their little girl back,” Benny shrugs. Leo certainly hopes he’s right. He’s about to turn and head inside when a different car pulls into the drive. Before it’s even completely stopped Soleil and Laslow bolt out of it. Soleil slips and falls on the slick cement but she gets back up fast and rushes to Leo.

“Where’s Nina?” She asks.

“Where’s _Odin?”_ Laslow echoes. “We got here as fast as we could.”

Leo looks between them. They’re both acting like they just ran a mile to get here. Soleil is clinging to Leo’s shirt, and Laslow looks just as desperate. More dread settles in his stomach. “I haven’t heard from Odin or Niles all day. I haven’t been able to get through to them.”

“Where’s _Nina_!” Soleil repeats. She pushes an envelope into his hands. Leo takes it and opens it up. It looks to be a paternity test.

“She’s gone, off with her parents.” Leo answers. He squints at the fine print. Snowflakes are bleeding into it, it’s becoming harder to read. “What is this?”

“Soleil and Nina went and had an ancestry test done a few days back. Xander heard about it and reached out to them to ask them to try and complete a paternity panel as well--he wanted to help in any way he could,” Laslow explains. “An ancestry test wouldn’t have done anything but told her she was Ylissean.”

“Gimme that!” Charlotte yanks the test right out of Leo’s hands. Then she shrieks. Or screams. It’s more of a scream. Pure rage curdling and rising up her throat in a sound that could kill birds. “I _knew it!”_ she screeches. “Come on, Benny, get in the car!”

“Those aren’t her parents!” Soleil chokes, but her evidence ran away with Charlotte. “That DNA test said that Niles is her dad. Your Niles! He--Woah,”

Leo’s head is spinning. In a moment that he thinks couldn’t get more alarming or confusing, Odin and Niles appear. Running. Sprinting, really, the two of them and they run in through the gates and, gasping for air, they stop in front of Leo. Niles puts his hand on Leo’s shoulder. Odin hangs off of Laslow like he’s dying.

And maybe he is! “Odin! You’re bleeding,” Leo realizes. Or maybe he was bleeding. He’s got a crusted trail of blood down the side of his head and a touch of a black eye. Jakob steps forward to inspect it, but Odin pushes him away.

“Where--Where is she?” Odin asks.

Leo counters the question with his own. “Niles? You’re her father?”

“Yeah,” Niles pants, “Are they here? They aren’t her parents--They locked us in the trunk of a car--where is she?”

“Then who is Grace?”

Laslow rolls his eyes to glance at Odin. So does Niles. For just a moment Odin looks so startled. Maybe even offended. More than that, he still looks scared, and Leo almost regrets asking the question. But then Odin shakes his head. “I-I was. I changed my name. Please, Leo, I’ll tell you more later. _Where_ is Nina? Where are they taking her?”

“I’ll get the car,” Jakob announces. Odin’s entire body sinks.

“They’re gone? They’re gone, aren’t they? Did they say where they were going?”

“No. They didn’t,” Leo answers. His head is spinning. He had no idea. He had no idea they had a daughter. He had no idea it was _Nina_. He knew they were growing pretty attached to her. This is beyond what he ever imagined. He knew nothing about Odin’s past beyond being homeless.

“They didn’t even give you a clue?” Niles asks. “Anything, Leo, anything at all.”

“Nothing,” Leo answers. That’s the worst bit, and Leo is aware. He’s just let some perfect strangers drive off with Odin and Niles’s daughter, to who knows where.. “We need to call the police.”

“We need to call the FBI!” Soleil argues. “She could be in danger! Those people could be trying to _hurt her_! They could do anything!”

“We don’t even know where to start looking,” Laslow’s face falls. “Will the police make it in time? In a blizzard?”

Soleil gasps. Very suddenly she rips her phone out of her pocket and shoves it in Niles’s face. “Do you think they knew she has a phone? Do these things really have trackers in them?”

Niles, in that moment, looks more relieved than he ever has. He reaches out and pulls Soleil close by her shoulders. He kisses her forehead. “Yes. They do. You’re a genius, kiddo.”

 

・。・゜★・。・。☆・゜・。・゜。・。・゜★・。・。☆・。・゜★・。・。☆・゜・。・゜。・。・゜★・。・。☆

Before they get far from Leo’s mansion Grace offers Nina a bottle of water. Maybe she’s just so used to adults being nice to her. She didn’t suspect a thing. She didn’t taste a thing… but twenty minutes later she’s dizzy and she doesn’t think she can move. Her head is spinning.

They’re pulled over behind an alley and Nina is overly sure something is wrong. Other-Niles is out of the car. The doors are locked from the inside, and she can’t get out. Grace is sitting in the front seat.

“Odin n’ Niles are gonna get you,” Nina mumbles. Grace is quiet. Then she turns around in her seat and reaches for Nina’s arm. “Don’t touch me!” Nina shouts louder than she means. Grace ignores it. She just turns Nina’s arm over and inspects her birthmark again.

“I recognize this.” She says. Nina’s eyes feel heavy. “What is Odin’s last name. It’s Bennett, isn’t it? Odin Bennett.” She takes a deep breath. “This mark--Chrom,” She gasps. “I’ve got to stop this.”

“Wha,” Nina thinks she might be drooling. She’s not sure what Grace is even saying. Well, her name is definitely not Grace. She gets out of the car and Nina tries to dig her phone out of her pocket.

She can hear _shouting_ outside the car. She can’t really focus on her peripheral vision right now, though. It’s all blurry. Instead she tries to pull up Odin’s number. That group text with Odin and Niles.

Her thumb feels so fat and heavy, though, typing is impossible. _helkp_

They’re yelling so loud. Nina is fading fast. _Nina? Nina, baby, where are you? We’re going to find you. Is it safe for you to be texting? Be careful. Nina?_

“I’ll take that.” Aversa opens the door next to Nina. She snatches the phone right out of Nina’s weak grip. Nina sputters out a protest. Aversa powers it off and throws it in a dumpster. Then she turns and argues with the other two some more. “Grima, seriously. If you know what’s good for you then you’re gonna take this car and drive out of town like we talked about. We’ll put the brat in this one and head for the airport in a car they can’t recognize.”

“But,” Grima-Grace starts. Then she stops. “Alright. This is it, though. I held up my part of this deal.”

Nina is definitely drooling, now. She tries to wipe it away with her arm but finds she can’t even move it. The door opens wider. Not-Niles grabs her. Nina tries to scream. It comes out as a whine. He puts her in the back seat and doesn’t bother to buckle her in. He shuts the door. Aversa and he climb into the front of the car and begin to drive off.

Back where they left her, Grima waits until they’re out of sight… and then she digs in that dumpster until she finds Nina’s phone. When she powers it on she finds the number listed as Odin Bennett. She calls it.

Pacing, she waits for him to answer. No doubt he will. His daughter’s phone is calling him, and he must know by now she’s missing. Not a breath goes by before he’s got the phone, very obviously on speaker, and he’s talking. _“Nina? Are you okay? Where are you?”_

“Odin,” She says, “Stay on the phone with me. This isn’t Nina. This is your Aunt Robin. Oh, Odin, I’ve done something terrible, this is all my fault… But I can help fix it. There’s still time.”

 

・。・゜★・。・。☆・゜・。・゜。・。・゜★・。・。☆・。・゜★・。・。☆・゜・。・゜。・。・゜★・。・。☆

 

_Odin came back home from college two weeks earlier. For the holidays. Niles is coming too, to meet his family for the first time. Considering they’ve been together for two years now it seems about time. They’re very serious. Sometimes they talk about their future. Odin wants to stay there, in Nohr. He wants to stay in the country he fell in love with, with the man he fell in love with._

_Niles waited two weeks so that Odin had plenty of time to come out to his family. But he hasn’t, yet. Two weeks later and he’s with his Aunt Robin. She’s driving him to the airport later, to pick up Niles. For now they’re sitting in a quiet corner of a coffee shop. Odin is sipping on a strawberry lemonade. Or he’s trying, but he’s distracted. Anxious. He feels naked, out in public like this. With his hair styled down over his shoulders and without his binder. Dressed in a clingy sweater and_ tights _because that’s what his mother would expect her daughter to wear._

_“Grace?” Robin asks him. He looks up, hesitantly._

_“Yes, Auntie?”_

_“You’ve barely touched your drink. Are you feeling alright?” She’s always been so nice to him. She’s really smart, she always encouraged his loudmouth way of talking… and maybe that’s why he feels like she’s as good a person as any to tell first._

_“No,” He answers. He shakes his head and sits back, tucking some of his hair behind his ear. Then he takes a deep breath. “I need to tell you something. Important.”_

_Maybe it’s the way that Odin is talking. Nothing exciting. No flourishes. She sets her drink aside and leans closer, takes him very seriously. “Tell me anything, dear.”_

_“I’m a man.” Odin looks at the grain of the table, instead of at his aunt. “I’m not--I know it’s…”_

_“Oh,” Robin says. “Have you told your parents?” Her voice is gentle and cautious and Odin finds it reassuring that she’s not jumping into a debate about it. Then again, he knew deep down there was no reason to worry. He’s just worried anyway._

_“I’m afraid to,” He whispers. “They love Grace so much. They love having a daughter; and they’ve been so good. They’re the greatest parents I could ever ask for! How can I… How can I tell them something like this?”_

_“Well because your mother will want to start calling you by the proper name right away.” Robin says. “And because your father will want nothing more than to support you.”_

_“But how can you be so sure?”_

_“Because this family took me in, too, and… And what is your name? Your real name. Have you chosen..?”_

_“Odin.” He whispers. “My name is Odin.”_

_“Odin Bennett. And Niles? He knows, I assume?”_

_“Yes! He was the first to know, and that very day he helped me pick out a binder, and… well, he’s been incredibly supportive. He even gave me all this time to tell you, my family, but I was so scared, and…”_

_“Well, Odin,” Robin begins, and it feels so good for her to use his name., “When I was young I ran away from my family. A horrible family. And when I left I changed my name and I changed everything about myself. This family never doubted who I am. I know they won’t doubt you either.”_

_Odin smiles, relief washing over him, but then Robin continues. “Er, well,” She says. She reaches out and plays with a lock of Odin’s hair, then lets it fall back into place against his shoulder. “They might doubt if you look like this. Did you keep your hair so long entirely to placate them?”_

_“Er, well,”_

_“And you’re not wearing your binder right_ now _… We need to take care of this right away.”_

_Odin glances back up at Robin with a horrified look on his face. “Right… right now?”_

_“Absolutely! Get up, come on. Odin, my dear nephew, we are getting your hair cut off. Right now.”_

_“But mom and dad don’t even know!”_

_“It promises to be a wonderful surprise! No matter who you’re born as, you can be anyone you want to be. You don’t have to be Grace anymore, not even for one more second. You can be Odin. Your family will love you as Odin, too.”_

_Robin giggles and suddenly Odin is grinning again. “Yeah. Okay. Okay!” He lets her pull him to his feet and he grabs his drink and together they rush out of the coffee shop. It’s a wild day, but in a rush they have his hair cut short and they run back by his parents house so he can change into jeans and his binder and a sweater that he actually feels comfortable wearing._

_Then they’re waiting at the airport, anxiously, and Robin has her hand on his shoulder. “Do you think he’ll even recognize you? You look completely different, now! But it’s a good different.”_

_“I’m more worried about what my parents have to say than Niles,” Odin admits. Niles already knew. Niles has already helped him do some research on how to go about beginning hormone therapy. Niles… is there. Just over there, and it’s only been two weeks apart but he leaves his aunt behind so he can run across the way and throw his arms around his boyfriend. They may just be kids in college but the fire between them burns brighter than the sun, and Odin knows that it will last forever. If Niles can love him through this, he can love him through anything. Can’t he?_

_And he does. He pushes Odin back to look at him and his grin is wide. Two bright, gorgeous, blue eyes look down into his and Niles looks like his smile could split his face open when he reaches up and combs his fingers through what’s left of Odin’s hair. “Wow,” He breathes out. “_ You _look incredible.”_

_“My dark persona is finally incarnate! I’m never going back. I hope you like it?”_

_Niles squeezes Odin tight around his shoulders, so tight it’s nearly crushing him, and then he tucks his nose against Odin’s neck and he kisses him there. Once, twice, and then blows a raspberry until Odin laughs and pushes him away. “I love it,” he finally says. “I love you.” Then he leans close and kisses Odin’s forehead. Odin is amazed that, for the first time ever, he doesn’t need to push his bangs aside to do so. Niles loves it! He said it himself._

_Odin’s heart swells with excitement and pride and he turns and looks back at his aunt. He gestures to her, the woman who forced this on him rapidly but freed him at the same time. “Niles,” He says, “I’d like you to meet my Aunt Robin.”_

 

・。・゜★・。・。☆・゜・。・゜。・。・゜★・。・。☆・。・゜★・。・。☆・゜・。・゜。・。・゜★・。・。☆

 


	7. And What's The Title Of The Dream That's Just Come True?

Soleil has been a worried mess this whole day. She was worried when Nina’s parents turned up out of nowhere just in time for Leo to be giving out money. She was worried when Nina said it didn’t feel right. She was worried when the mail came and didn’t confirm what was going on. Laslow has been trying to calm her, and Soleil loves her dad, of course, but she’s not sure he can do anything to calm her down. She’s just freaking out.

Some lady named Robin has been telling them what’s happening. She’s supposedly Odin’s aunt but how can family be so cruel to each other that she kidnapped Nina? That’s like Auntie Elise kidnapping Soleil or something, and that’s basically a joke. But Robin said that they’re heading towards the airport; that they have a flight out. She thinks the flight might be delayed for the weather, and that may just be their saving grace.

Soleil’s got her arms folded but her right hand is up so she can chew on her cuticles. She’s pacing. Crying? A little. Her eyes are wet but she’s more angry than sad. More scared than anything. A hand falls on her shoulder and she startles. She turns but instead of Laslow it’s “Sieggy.”

Siegbert must have just arrived. He’s got snow on the legs of his pants still and he must have walked because there’s no way any busses are running in this weather. Or maybe Xander found a way to get him there. Xander knows what’s going on. Everyone knows what’s going on. Half the city is shut down trying to find Nina again. He looks just as worried, but he opens his mouth and expresses it and it comes as a surprise. “I’m worried about you.” 

Her? Soleil could laugh. Why should he worry about her? Nina is missing! Nina is the only one who matters right now. Seriously. “I’m fine.” 

“No, really,” Siegbert says. He puts his hands on Soleil’s cheeks. Her hair gets squished up in his grip and she stops pacing to stare at him because he’s basically forcing her. “As someone who’s had his fair share of anxiety and panic attacks… I need you to just stop moving for a minute. When was the last time you even took a breath?” 

Soleil exhales dramatically. Siegbert smiles just a little bit… and she does love her brother’s cute smile, so she perks up just a little bit. “No one is doing  _ anything _ ,” She complains. Siegbert slides his hands down from her face to her hands and he squeezes them. “And Dad won’t let me go out on my own. He’s got me on lockdown!” 

“Well you do tend to run away,” Siegbert says. Soleil frowns at him. “Did she say anything at all to you today?”

“Not really.” She huffs. Niles and Odin have been talking to Charlotte and Benny and the police department for the last half hour. Leo has been on and off calls with Xander, and she’s pretty sure that Xander is  _ actually _ going to involve the FBI. She doesn’t know if her stepdad has that kind of authority as mayor or not, but she knows he would do anything to help Nina. He knows how much she means to Soleil. Everyone does. Right? Except maybe her.

She pulls out her phone to review her messages. “She told me something didn’t feel right and she asked if I was okay. Right before that you were texting me that Shiro flew back with Takumi and Forrest and Kiragi so we could meet him, and…”

“And?” Siegbert asks. 

Soleil’s heart speeds up. She sucks in a breath. A sharp one, one so fast it hurts before she throws her phone to the floor she’s so excited. “And Shiro and Takumi and Forrest and Kiragi!” She exclaims, “They’re at the airport! Like  _ right now _ ! Maybe they can stall them for the police to get there, holy shit!” Soleil barely remembers to scoop her phone up off of the floor before she runs down the hall back towards Odin and Niles and all the ‘grown ups’. She hears Siegbert shout after her. 

“That could be dangerous!” 

She thinks that it’s the best plan anyone’s got.

 

…

 

Nina is on her feet and walking but only because Aversa and Not-Niles (who turned out to be named Gangrel) are basically carrying her. She’s not drooling anymore, which is great, but she’s a weight. She feels nauseous and like she could faint at any moment. They’ve been here for a little while, now… it feels like forever. Gangrel got up and went to shout at the woman at the desk for the delay. But the snow has stopped, the runway is cleared… and they’re boarding, now.

They’re getting on a plane. Nina has never been on a plane before in her life. She’s afraid of it. They’re just about to head into the terminal, just getting in line to board… and then she hears a commotion. 

“Shiro be--” Nina’s entire body droops to one side because Gangrel drops her and all that’s left to hold her up is Aversa’s lazy grip. She can’t really lift her head but she’s aware that someone just punched Gangrel’s lights out. Then she hears that first voice sigh. “Careful.” 

Aversa yanks Nina so fast she thinks she might die. Her head is spinning and throbbing and she thinks it’s cracked open like an egg. “What’s going on?!” She shouts. People in line have cleared the way. They’re not interested in being a part of this fight. Nina blinks and blearily she recognizes a man with his hands on his hips. She knows him; he’s from the pictures. Takumi.

“How dumb are you?” He asks. Gangrel is still on the floor, and there’s another guy standing with Takumi. Not from the pictures. Maybe he’s Shiro. She heard that name. She thinks. It’s a little cloudy. “Let her go, lady, the cops are already on their way.” 

“Wh--excuse me?” Aversa shouts. “Who are you?” 

“Uh, Leo’s husband. Did you really think you could kidnap someone that easy? Half the country is looking for you by now,” Takumi answers. 

“How… how?” Aversa doesn’t finish her sentence, but she does let Nina go. Violently, when they can hear and see sirens outside the windows. She drops Nina right onto the floor. Nina grunts. She can’t move, but she can see Aversa’s shoes when she sprints. 

“Hey!” Shiro shouts. He starts to run, but something holds him back. Probably Takumi.

“No way, your dad will  _ kill _ me. Stay here.” 

“Is she okay?” That’s a different voice, and Nina moans in response to it. Someone crouches at her side and pulls her head into their lap. He looks her over and pats her cheek. She recognizes him from the photo too. Pretty curls. “I think she needs to go to the hospital, father,” he mumbles. Nina thinks that he may be right, because her world goes dark. 

 

…

 

_ She’s only a little girl but she’s running through some flowers and chasing her parents. They’re playing a game of cat and mouse, but Nina’s been losing. “Wait!’ She calls out. Odin waits. He turns and looks over his shoulder. Niles hesitates too. Both of them, there, stand as silhouettes in the sunlight. “Daddy,” She cries, “I hurt my ankle.”  _

_ “Oh, baby,” Odin hums. “Did you really? Or are you just saying that so that I slow down and you can catch me?”  _

_ Nina fakes a sniffle. Odin coos at her. He wanders closer and opens up his arms, and Nina runs into them. Just like that he scoops her up and spins with her, and she giggles and pats him on his shoulder.  _

_ “You’re it!” She declares. Odin barks out a laugh.  _

_ “Oh I am, am I? Have you betrayed me again with your tales of woe? My own daughter!” He picks up her hand by her wrist and kisses it a few times. Niles wanders closer and whistles.  _

_ “Looks like you lose, luv,” He says to Odin. Odin rolls his eyes. Nina reaches out her hands and Niles accepts her bait. He leans in closer until she claps both of her hands on both of his cheeks. She pulls him closer, closer, closer… and then she kisses his nose. _

_ “You win!” She declares.  _

_ Niles’s smirk melts into a helpless smile. He leans closer to her and kisses her little nose. Nina squeals out a giggle. “I certainly do,” He says.  _

_ “Wait!” Odin gasps. “I’m the one who stopped everything to care for you in your moment of need, and I don’t get any kisses?” he asks. Nina leans up and kisses Odin on his cheek from her spot in his arms. She’s absolutely thrilled when Niles does the same to his other cheek.  _

_ Odin turns his head and kisses Nina’s forehead. “I love you, baby,” He says to her. Nina smiles wide. He reaches up and combs his fingers through her hair. _

_ “I love you too, Daddy.”  _

 

_ … _

 

Nina is used to waking up with someone in her bed. She’s shared a bed with Ophelia since the day she came to stay with them in Aversa’s care. When she wakes up now, she’s not startled when she feels the bed heavy. She takes in a deep breath and keeps her eyes closed, trying to process her surroundings slowly. She can hear Niles to one side of her. He’s laying down to her left, humming her lullaby drowsily and smoothing his fingers over her hair. 

She peeks her eyes open and it’s bright with the sunlight in the stark hospital room. Around her waist Odin has both of his arms looped around her loosely. He may be sleeping. His eyes are closed, one way or another, and it looks like he’s got a white ribbon tied around his head. That doesn’t make sense to her sleepy brain, so Nina turns onto her side so she’s tucked into Niles’s chest, and from there she groans in protest to being awake. 

Odin must be awake, then, because she feels his hand, the one not tucked under her, slide onto her back. “Nina,” He presses, gently. “Are you alright?” 

Nina isn’t alright. She’s confused! Scared. She shakes her head left and right and curls up closer into Niles’s chest. She cries there while everything catches up to her. She was kidnapped! Drugged, nearly smuggled out of the country… and worst of all, she wasn’t with her parents at all. She’d never been farther from them than she was in that moment. 

But now she’s with them. Niles brings his arm to drape over her where Odin’s moved away. His arm drapes over Nina and Odin both, and it’s like her faded memories of being a little girl tucked between her parents. Only this time she’s not so little and her parents aren’t fantasies, they’re real. They’ve got to be her parents. That has to be what they were talking about the other night, it has to be how all these puzzle pieces of information fit together. 

But maybe there’s some proof to it, too? Odin’s handwriting matches the writing on her note. She knows now from when she saw it before. She’s seen it several times, now. She turns over to face him. At first he opens his arms to hug her, but she shakes her head and sits up instead. Niles’s arm falls off of her, and so does Odin’s. She’s sure what she wants now. She wants to know if he’s the one who wrote the note; if he’s the one who has the birthmark that allegedly runs in their family. Hesitantly, Odin sits up too. Niles as well. Nina reaches for Odin’s arm. 

She remembers now that day she first arrived. Niles tugged Odin’s sleeve down and Nina wasn’t sure why. Now she knows. She pushes his sleeve up and sure enough, there on his arm he has the same birthmark that Nina does. It’s a little higher up, by his forearm. A little bigger than hers, but the same teardrop like shape. Her eyes flit upwards to look at him. He’s got his lip caught between his teeth, but he’s not stopping her. She holds out her wrist to admire the two marks together, side by side. 

Finally Odin remembers how to talk. “Nina,” He breathes. “We can explain…”

“Why didn’t you tell me?” Nina asks. Loudly! With some anger! “Where were you--Why did you let them have me? I tried to text you, we tried calling you!” She hesitates. Then she reaches up and touches the side of Odin’s face. He has a black eye, and now that she gets a better look that white ribbon is actually some bandaging wrapped around his head… and maybe that has something to do with it. “Why didn’t you tell me? Didn’t you want me?” 

“ _ Nina _ ,” Nile’s voice drags out when he says it, like he’s exasperated and tired and scared. It overlaps Odin, who reaches up and holds Nina’s face in both of his hands. 

Odin smiles at her and thumbs away her tears and very slowly shakes his head back and forth. “We love you, Nina. You’re our little ray of sunshine! Our hopes, our dreams… you’re worth more than any of them. Of course we wanted you. They trapped us. They tricked everyone.” 

They love her! He said it out loud, and Nina hiccups and cries again. She nuzzles into Odin’s hand. Niles leans around her to kiss her wet cheek. She laughs pathetically in the middle of her tears… and the she swats gently at his face. “Gross,” she complains weakly. 

A breath later she lifts her face out of Odin’s hands and looks around the hospital room again. She can’t remember all of what happened, but she does find it in her to ask “Am I sick?”

“You’re alright,” Niles answers from behind her. His voice is a rumble and tired. She wonders if Odin or Niles got any sleep. “They dosed you with some drugs, yesterday, but by now most of it’s been flushed out of your system. Do tell us if you’re feeling sick though, Nina, we can ask a nurse to get you something for it.” 

“And this is real? You guys, I mean,” Nina asks. She’s nervous. Even now she’s worried, deep down, they’ll say no. This was all a sick joke, we aren’t really your parents. She watches them exchange a glance over her shoulder. Then Odin tucks some of Nina’s bangs behind her ear. 

“You’re our daughter,” He confirms. He smiles for her, but he looks so guilty and sad. “We’re so sorry. We never wanted to leave you alone for so long. We never wanted to leave you at all, but Niles was so sick… I didn’t know if he would make it. It was the coldest winter yet, we were homeless and starving… Baby, we just wanted you to be okay until we could make ends meet.”

It sounds exactly like she imagined it would. It’s how she dreamed it would be; that her parents wanted her all along and everyone who told her they weren’t coming back was wrong. Nina relaxes her shoulders only to bump into Niles. Then she decides just to relax back and lean on him, because he’s there anyway. She feels his hand slide up and down her arm, and then he squeezes her bicep gently. “Try to forgive us, one day, Nina. We thought we were doing what was best for you. We’ve spent years trying to find you again.” 

Nina sucks in a breath and thinks about what Niles said to her the other day, when they were in his house. That he thinks her parents have been searching for her, that he thinks they still want her. It makes her breath catch and her eyes glisten with new tears. “I forgive you,” She mumbles. “I forgave you years and years ago…” And she did! It wasn’t entirely their fault. She never thought it was, and she won’t start blaming them now. “You want me back, don’t you?” 

“Yes!” Odin gasps. “Nina! Yes. More than anything! I’m not whole without you here with me,” He sits back to give her some space, but he reaches down for her hands. “We share a bond, as well as our blood. We’re family, the three of us, and we belong together.”

“You mean it? Even though I’m not a baby anymore?” Nina asks. Niles wraps his arms around her and squeezes tight enough it makes her gasp and laugh. “Stop it!” 

“Mm, I’m never letting you go. You’re still  _ my _ baby.” He coos instead. Nina sighs. It’s a good sigh though. She smiles and Niles is holding her close. Trapped, really, so when Odin leans forward and kisses her forehead and her cheeks and wraps his arms around Niles to trap her in the middle of an overly-affectionate group hug she has nowhere to go. And she wouldn’t go anywhere. She’s been dreaming of this her whole life.

It almost slipped through her fingers, too. When Odin finally pulls away from her she reaches up and drags her fingertips up to the bandages. “D-Dad,” She tries. It feels weird to say it out loud. She fumbles with it on her tongue but then she finishes her sentence to try and distract from how awkwardly it came out. “Uh, Odin, what… What happened to your head?” 

She makes him cry. She can tell. She can see his eyes get wet really fast and she can see him reach up and scrub away any tears before they can fall. When he moves his hand away he just looks so happy, though. He looks like his whole world is falling into place and Nina calling him ‘Dad’ was the cherry on top. 

He smiles so wide at her she thinks she might have broke him. “I’m fine!” He tries. His voice cracks. Nina smiles. “No evil can fell Odin Dark! But… while you were being whisked away by those villains, they roughed us up and locked us in the trunk of a car. It’s why we didn’t get your messages. When we finally were free and we saw them, we rushed to find you.”

But they didn’t find her. Not right away, because she was kidnapped. “Yesterday was just plain awful.” She mumbles. Odin nods his head. 

“You can say that again,” he says.

“Yesterday was a straight-up nightmare,” Niles adds, “But Nina, nothing like this will ever happen to you again. We already figured this out.” 

“Yes!” Odin says, “We didn’t sleep last night, we stayed up working out the legalities with Charlotte and the police and Leo. Until a new DNA test is completed they won’t let us even begin the process of being reunited with you legally--and even then they are going to be very cautious about the paperwork… but we’ve got all the documentation sorted out to foster you, ourselves, until you’re ours again, officially.”

They want to foster her! Even if they can’t adopt her or be reunited with her or whatever the rules are right away, she’s thrilled. They’re not going to let her go back to that foster care system for even one second. “I can really stay with you?” Nina asks. She thinks back to that bedroom. The bedroom of her dreams with the princess bed and the window seat, in their house. “That was my room?”

“That is your room.” Odin confirms. “Yours to decorate and change however you like!” He dips his head to the side. “You do want to come live with us, don’t you? We won’t force you, but we just love you so much.” 

“I want to.” Nina nods her head. “I love you, too. I’m just… I can’t believe I really found you again.” Her sun and moon! They’re really here. They really love her. 

But she is missing one little piece of sunshine. She looks around. “Is my phone… anywhere?” 

“No,” Odin resumes petting her hair and Nina sighs into his touch. He’s her dad! She knew it, deep down, but it’s just overwhelming for them to have confirmed it. They’re her parents. She catches his hand and holds it close to her, in her lap, instead. Odin smiles at her. “They took it for evidence. It had a lot of fingerprints on it; they haven’t given it back yet.” 

“Oh.” Well, that’s alright. Nina doesn’t need it. She shouldn’t be worrying about anything else. Not when she’s got her parents again. She squeezes Odin’s hands. Odin squeezes hers in return. 

“Are you looking for someone?” Odin asks. He dips his head to one side and he’s just oh, so cute when he does it. Nina bites her lip and shakes her head no. 

“I just,” She shrugs. “I think Soleil was a little worried, is all.” 

“A little?” Niles echoes. He shifts away from Nina and she sort of hates that, but she can see he’s getting up out of the bed. As he does he combs his fingers through his hair to smooth it from laying around for so long. “Almost as worried as we were, I’d say.” 

“I concur,” Odin mumbles. “She would have spent the entire night here if her parents let her. She fell asleep in the waiting room hoping to hear you were awake, last night. Laslow took her home.” 

“Oh.” Maybe she shouldn’t be disappointed. Nina just sort of thought this would be that moment in a movie when everything fell into place. Her parents are with her again, she’s alive, they’re alive… and maybe the person she likes would be there, waiting for her to wake up at the hospital. But it’s not like this is a movie. There are rules; and they’re just teenagers. It’s not like Soleil can force her parents to let her stay. 

It’s sort of sweet that she fell asleep in the waiting room, though. Niles reaches for a cotton jacket and starts to zip it up around himself. Nina frowns at him. “Are you leaving?” 

“Yes,” His lips curl into a sideways smile. “To let the nurse know you’re awake… and didn’t you just ask to see Soleil? I thought I’d let  _ her _ know you’re up, too.” 

“Wh--she’s here?” Nina turns her head back to Odin. He nods. “I thought you said Laslow took her home?” 

“Yes, dear, last night,” Odin agrees. “Then this morning she demanded to come back. She’s been here for an hour or so. Leo is coming by to see you once he’s finished up what he’s doing. He and Xander are with the press preparing a public statement of what happened. Of course usually I prepare those for him, but… Nothing could have kept me from you.” 

Oh. That makes sense. Nina reaches up and combs her fingers through her hair. It’s messy from her sleep… and so she starts to part it so she can braid it. She’s got to look halfway presentable if other people are coming in here, right? 

Niles slips out of the room and Odin moves away from Nina. Only to step to a table and bring her a bottle of water. When he comes back he sits on the side of her bed, though, instead of crawling onto it and cuddling like before. She hates that. She wants Niles and Odin to cuddle her! She’s been through something traumatic, and she could really use some reassurance from her parents now that she has them… but she knows what he’s doing. He’s giving her a little space so that when Soleil comes in she can exercise flair if necessary.

“So… are they going to jail? All of them? They were awful.” Nina wonders this while she braids her hair down her shoulders. 

Odin shakes his head. “Aversa and Gangrel are being arrested. Robin is being admitted to a rehabilitation center first, where they’ll determine exactly… how extensively she’s been abused and if it really justifies her actions. Her father is also being investigated.” 

“Okay..?” Nina asks. She can tell Odin is uncertain about it, but she’s not sure why. She’s not sure she needs to know, just yet, either. “If Aversa is going to jail, what’s going to happen to my friends?” 

“Xander is working with social services to make sure they’re taken in by foster families who will love them. The way they’re meant to be treated.” 

Does that mean she won’t see them again? She supposes she’ll see Rhajat and Mitama at school, but what about Ophelia? She’s little! She’s about to open her mouth to ask when Niles steps back into the room and right on his heels is Soleil. 

She breaks down and cries right away. In a heartbeat Soleil has her arms slung tight around Nina’s shoulders. Nina has to stop braiding her hair halfway through! She just lets Soleil squeeze the life out of her and listens to her best friend start hiccuping and crying. “I’m so sorry!” she says, “I figured it out, but it was too late to help you and we came as fast as we could, but… This is my fault!” 

“I don’t think it’s you’re fault…” Nina mutters. Odin stands up from the bed and wanders across the room to Niles. Nina turns her attention to Soleil again, and rests her cheek against the side of her head. “I’m okay now.” 

That doesn’t fix it. Soleil cries for a moment longer and then Nina reaches up and pats her back. “Don’t cry,” She says, “Don’t you always tell me to turn my frowns upside down? Everything is fine now. You don’t have to cry.” 

Maybe to prove it, Nina pushes Soleil back by her shoulders and smiles at her. Soleil smiles too, but it quickly turns into a watery laugh. She reaches up to wipe her eyes with her fingers, and she sniffles a few times. “I figured out who your parents are,” She mutters pathetically.

Nina smiles more genuinely. “Yeah, I did too.” She resumes braiding her hair. She wanted Soleil to be here. She wanted to get what was going on between them out in the open. But now she’s nervous about it and she doesn’t know what to say. And this is what  _ always _ happens to her, it’s why Nina has always been more of a people watcher than a talker. 

“So I guess this means you’re getting your happily ever after!” Soleil decides. “The evil is defeated, the princess is saved… that’s all there is to it, right?” 

“Do you want to kiss me?” Nina interrupts. 

“Um, woah,” Soleil blinks. “Yeah. I mean--do you mean like right now, or just in general?” 

What kind of a question is that? Nina’s face  _ hurts _ for how badly she’s blushing. She ducks her head and forgets about braiding her hair again. She just wants to hide. “I… now, I guess.” 

“Wait,” Soleil asks. “So are you _saying_  I can kiss you? Like for real? I thought you didn’t even like it when I called you ‘babe’.” 

“I guess I like it a little,” Nina mumbles back. She clutches at the blankets in her lap. She should have said anything  _ but _ that. It came out of her mouth so quickly! And it was so dumb! Nina tries not to whine when she says “I’m sorry--you don’t have to.” 

“No, I really really want to!” Soleil argues. “Just, you’re looking down and I mean…” She reaches out and uses her finger and thumb to reposition Nina’s face to look at her. And then Nina blushes again. “Maybe if you stay just like that, then…” 

Then Soleil kisses her. And it’s not exactly a movie star kiss or something. It’s a first kiss ever for Nina. Closed lips but open hearts, Soleil’s kiss tastes a little bit like her earlier tears but mostly it just makes Nina’s chest feel giddy. She’s never been kissed before! Never really wanted to be kissed by anyone before, but now she wants Soleil to do it whenever she likes. 

Nina’s shoulders slump and she leans forward into that kiss. It only lasts a few seconds. After that Soleil giggles and she sounds so happy… and she wraps her arms around Nina’s neck to hang off of her. “I’m so glad you’re okay,” She sighs. “I’m never going to let anyone take you away from me again, okay? I don’t need anything in the whole world but you.” 

Niles clears his throat across the room. Nina looks up to see Odin and Laslow with him. Laslow is smiling behind his fingertips and Odin has a proud grin on his face… but Niles gestures to a nurse. “I hate to interrupt, lovebirds, but she’s got a job to do… and Soleil isn’t going anywhere anytime soon.” 

Nina hides her face in her hands. They’re all the worst! It’s not like she didn’t know they were here, but she sort of expected them to at least pretend to give them privacy. Not sit there and make a spectacle of it. “ _ Niles _ ,” She whines. She can hear him chuckle even over here. 

“It’s okay!” Soleil leans forward and kisses Nina again. This time on her cheek. “I’m  _ not _ going anywhere. Just right over by dad. I’ll be right back!” 

In the few moments Soleil and Nina are talking, Nina notices that the nurse has started to fiddle with the bandages on Odin’s head. She removes them altogether, but as soon as she starts pushing aside his hair to get a better look at his injury he waves her away and points her in the direction of Nina. “Just a bump!” He says, “Worry over Nina instead, please.” 

The nurse does what he asks, but Nina does notice Niles lean close and kiss Odin’s head near where his ‘bump’ must be. Soleil bounds over to her dad and she starts talking to him in a hush. She looks so  _ happy _ and Nina hopes that’s because of her. She hopes this turns into something real. Maybe they’ll start dating? Would it be okay if Soleil was her girlfriend? 

It’s not like her parents are going to have a problem with her being gay or something. Nina sighs. The nurse takes her blood pressure. Soleil smiles wide for her. Odin and Niles do, too.

This is like a dream come true.

 

・。・゜★・。・。☆・゜・。・゜。・。・゜★・。・。☆・。・゜★・。・。☆・

One Year Later

゜・。・゜。・。・゜★・。・。☆

 

“Can someone let that poor dog inside? He’s scratching at the door!” Niles calls from the other room. He says someone but he must mean her, because everyone else is busy. Odin is seated at the piano in the living room. He’s got some sheet music in front of them, but he’s only glancing at it now and then. He’s not the one playing anyway. Nina is.

Nina is still learning, but she picked it up beautifully! She can play whole songs, already! They’ve been trying to convince her to have a recital, but she’s too shy to do it. She’s got her hair in neat braids over her shoulders, she’s got her hands stretched over the keys, and she’s really focusing on playing a familiar tune. 

Niles is in the kitchen. That’s where he was when he shouted and where he is still. She can hear sizzling bacon and she knows he’s cooking a big breakfast because today is their day off. No school, no work, and they make a point to spend time together as a family on Sunday mornings. He’s busy cooking, though, which means…   
  
“I’ll get him!” Ophelia Dusk to the rescue! She pushes herself up off of the floor and smooths out her skirt. It’s her favorite skirt; Odin and Niles bought it for her shortly after they began the process of adopting her. She wore it to the party they hosted when they signed the paperwork and made it all official. It’s dark blue with purple and grey and black blotches, a galaxy with white and yellow stars across it. 

Her shirt is nothing special. It’s just a casual sunday at home, after all. It’s just a shirt with the logo of a vineyard on it. Ophelia doesn’t know what a vineyard is, really, if not just a farm… but she chalks it up to some fancy wine word because Niles collects old wines. It’s a very fancy thing to collect! And sort of boring, to a little girl. 

She runs on bare feet to the back door. Past Niles in the kitchen (but he swats her playfully when she passes him) and through the garage. The floor is nefariously cold! She squeaks but she rushes to push the door open so that their hero dog can be let inside. He must be freezing too, if the floor is so chilly!

He’s so much bigger now than he was when Ophelia first met him, but Sir Douglas is by no means done growing. He bounds inside and shakes out his fur, sending snow and maybe a little mud splattering everywhere. Ophelia gasps and shrieks and covers her face, and thankfully she survives the ordeal. 

She lowers her fingers and looks through them when she notices Niles closing the door and bolting the lock. He’s still got a spatula in one hand, but he raises his brow at her. “You screamed?” 

“Sir Douglas!” She explains, “Father, he attacked me! I hardly escaped with my life.” Niles looks at her very seriously for a moment… and then he smirks and exhales sharply. Like a laugh, but no sound is behind it. 

“Get inside, princess, it’s cold out here.” 

Ophelia does just that. She rushes back inside and bounces from one foot to the other until the bottom of her feet are warm again. Then she walks closer to the counter and peers onto it just to see if breakfast is ready yet. Niles follows her and he hums at her. “Go get your father and your sister, I’ll set the table,” He says.

Yes! Ophelia can do that easily. She nearly skips into the sitting room where the piano music is playing. Then Odin lights up and puts his arms out for her. “Ophelia Dusk! Just the little lady we needed to see. Come here?”

He hardly needed to ask. Ophelia runs across the room and into his embrace. Odin gives such good hugs. Tight and warm and always long. “What do you need?” She asks.

“We need a pretty singer, of course,” Odin answers. “To sing along while Nina plays. Will you?” Odin looks up and so does Ophelia when Niles sets down a mug of coffee in front of Odin and also a disapproving glance. 

“Breakfast,” He reminds them. Ophelia wonders how quickly he set the table. 

“But Dad,” Nina turns to whine at Niles, “I think I finally got all the notes right! Listen to it! Just once? Please?” 

“Nina,” Niles laughs like starlight. Ophelia thinks so specifically. Nina has always been right about her parents being the night and day. Nina is like the sunrise that breaks through and makes the world bright, and Ophelia is the princess of dusk to keep the dark and the night at bay. They’re a happy family, like that. “That piano isn’t going anywhere.” 

“Sing with Ophie!” Odin begs as well. “Please? Nina has worked very hard to master these skills! Her training is paying off; won’t you let her show off to her own family?” 

“Alright.” Niles smiles. So does Odin. So does Ophelia, too, and she giggles. 

Nina plays the first two notes hesitantly but the rest come with confidence. Ophelia has known this song as long as she can remember. Since the first day she met Nina, they shared it together. Nina sang it to promise her that it wouldn’t be so bad, and maybe that’s why they were destined to be sisters all along. 

Ophelia sings with confidence. She’s a little off key, or maybe Niles is because after Odin insists he does sing along with them. Ophelia reaches out for his hands and he takes hers, and together they sway like they’re dancing. After a moment she steps onto his feet, and he guides her in the dance while she balances on him. 

_ Tomorrow, tomorrow, I love ya tomorrow. You’re only a day away. _

It’s incredible! A song that reminds them where they came from. They struggled to get here, but they’re a family now! Nina and Ophelia and Niles and Odin! There were bumps in the road, but they crossed them all! Nothing could ruin this moment! 

Except a shatter from the kitchen. Odin stands up from the piano, startled. Niles scoops Ophelia right up onto his hip (and did he maybe think she might be at risk of stepping in the glass? It clearly happened in the other room). They share a glance. Then Nina gasps. 

“Doug?!” She yelps. 

“Bacon,” Odin whispers out like he’s having an epiphany. It’s truly a dramatic moment, and Ophelia hopes one day she’ll be able to emulate it. It’s like in that moment Odin is realizing that by their own hands, their family breakfast has been endangered. Their chance to talk to their children is ruined! No more can he ask Nina how her date with Soleil went. No more can he ask Ophelia if she finished her homework. Alas, it’s all gone, and… Well, it’s a very good expression there on his face.

“ _ Dammit _ !” Niles whispers too, but that doesn’t spare Ophelia from hearing it. She holds on to him while he begins to walk but she scolds him. They step into the kitchen and they find that breakfast is still on the table, untouched. Their family won’t fall to ruin after all.

“Daddy said not to swear in front of us,” Ophelia says it almost like she’s tattling. Niles snorts.

“Daddy also said he didn’t think this puppy would get so tall and--Doug! Get down.” Across the room Sir Douglas backs up and away from the mess he’s made. Thankfully he didn’t reach any of the food… but unfortunately he has shattered a glass. Nina runs in just as Niles is groaning. “Hey. Put on shoes,” he says.

Nina rolls her eyes. Odin squeezes past her and picks up the bigger shards of the glass the dog knocked off the table. “He can be trained!” 

“Trained to clean up glass?” Niles smirks. “Maybe he ought to do it.” 

“Dogs can’t sweep!” Ophelia argues. She’s very sure of that! “You can’t make him do it.” 

Nina comes back with a small broom and dustpan, and she offers it to the dog. He looks very confused, and like he really only wants some bacon… and so she pats his head. He isn’t going to clean the floor, but he probably won’t be having any people-food either. “Sorry Doug. It’s a hard-knock life.” 

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I HAD SOME TROUBLE with this chapter so I hope it was everything you hoped for and more! Thank you for staying with me for Annie Au. If you haven't seen it yet I really recommend it! You can surely rent it or buy it somewhere pretty cheap! It's such a fun movie. 
> 
> Thank you so much for reading!

**Author's Note:**

> So the dream is to update this every Sunday. Starting with today, because hAPPY BIRThdAY NILES. I don't know if I'll make it happen but it WAS my new years resolution to write more, so here we are. 
> 
> If you haven't seen Annie you don't have to to get the plot, but honest to god I recommend it. Any version of it. They're all precious. This fic isn't based on any particular version, and the plot takes a turn and diverges from it a lot, but its straight up such a good and pure movie.


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